Lalit Suri Hospitality Group to invest Rs 2500 cr by 2014

The group's Chairperson and Managing Director Jyotsna Suri told PTI on the sidelines of Hoteliers' Conclave here that it has earmarked Rs 2,000 crore for expansion of luxury hotels and Rs 500 crore for mid-segment hotels. She said the group is taking up new projects in the luxury segment in cities, including Jaipur, Chandigarh, Kochi and Ahmedabad but did not share details.

The group has seventeen luxury hotels with 3,600 rooms in the five-star deluxe segment. Suri said the company plans to open its hotel in Thailand by 2014, while it has put on hold plans to open a hotel in Dubai due to economic situation there.

Commenting on the group's plans for mid-segment, she said the first hotel under the 'Lalit Traveller' brand will be opened within the next six months with the operationalisation of its property at Faridabad.

"The objective is to promote domestic tourism. There is a need to create hotels in the budget segment," Suri said. Currently there are about eight projects which are at various stages of construction, in places including Bhuj, Jalandhar, Pune, Drass and Faridabad
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"The total room capacity that we expect to have in the mid-segment is 613 rooms," she said, adding the pricing of these hotels could vary between Rs 2000 to Rs 6000 per room per night depending on location.

Asked about tariffs during the peak season, Suri said: "This is the usual cycle, this is how it works in the hotels industry. There could be a 15-20 per cent increase in peak season from September."