| "Construction of the hotel would start within a month's time and would be completed by mid-2007. The management of the hotel will rest with an international chain that already has its presence in India," said M P Purushothaman, chairman and managing director of Empee Group. |
| The hotel is going to be designed by Wimberly Allison Tong and Goo, a global design consultant for the hospitality, leisure and entertainment industries. |
| The funding for the venture would mainly come from internal accruals and partly from bank loans. Purushothaman indicated that about two to three banks have already evinced interest, and the bank finance is expected in a month or two. |
| The new hotel will be located in Ekkattuthangal, which is about 6-7 kilometres from Chennai airport. |
| "Overall occupancy is improving and a recent survey indicated that there is a shortage of 500 rooms in Chennai," added Purushothaman explaining the rationale to construct a five-star hotel. The group already owns a couple of three-star hotels in Chennai -- The Grand Orient and New Victoria Hotel. |
| Most hotels in the city are reaping the benefits of the spurt in business related activities in Chennai with occupancy rates shooting up by 20 per cent in the first quarter of this fiscal over the corresponding period of last year. |
| The Empee Group is aiming to target the business traveller population that frequents the city especially from the IT, BPO, telecom, banking, auto and garment industries. |
| Chennai, which has already emerged as a hub for auto and auto component manufacturers, is also being looked at by IT majors to set up their biggest operations here. |
| While Nokia has already announced plans to set up its manufacturing facility here, another IT player, Intel, is studying the feasibility of setting up a manufacturing facility. |
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