Oberoi Group to invest Rs 900 crore by 2011 on new hotels

New Delhi: The Oberoi Group today said that it would invest about Rs 900 crore by 2011 to develop three properties in India besides entering into management contracts abroad even as Travel + Leisure magazine named the Oberoi Udaivilas the world's best hospitality property.

"We are developing a lot of properties in India, some on our own while others are in partnership. We are also getting into management contracts in the overseas markets," PRS Oberoi, chairman, Oberoi Group, and son of the late founder, Rai Bahadur Oberoi, told reporters in New Delhi.

The group is developing one property each in Mumbai, Goa and Rajgarh in Madhya Pradesh on its own. It also has partnership projects in Bangalore and Hyderabad.

SS Mukherjee, vice chairman, disclosed that the group had earmarked an investment of Rs 900 crore for adding 1,500 rooms in India, of which, Rs 400 crore had been invested already.

Currently, the group has 2,950 rooms in India and the company's expansion programme will be completed between August next year and 2011, he added.

East India Hotels also plans to enter into management contracts for properties in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Cambodia and Maldives that would add another nearly 1,200 rooms. Currently, the Oberoi Group, which operates 32 hotels in five countries, has 1,690 rooms overseas.

The group's property in Udaipur, the Oberoi Udaivilas, received an overall score of 94.36 by in a Travel + Leisure reader survey emerging as the world's best hotel. Earlier in 2005, Condé Nast had named the property to its Gold List. (See: Condé Nast Traveller puts Udaivilas in the 2006 'Gold List')

Travel + Leisure also rated Oberoi Amarvilas in Agra as the 10th best hotel in the world, followed by Oberoi Rajvilas in Jaipur as the 11th best.