Kamat group lines up Rs 30 cr investment for Nagpur

Will set up a hospitality management institute, a training centre, an enviroscope museum

The Kamat group of hotels is planning to set up a hospitality management institute in the next three-four months, a hotel management and tourism training institute over the next two months and an 'enviroscope' museum, which will feature products made out of waste.

Besides, the group plans to construct a budget hotel and a five-star hotel, under the brand name 'Orchid', over the next 16 months.

Currently camping in the city for firming up plans, Vithal Kamat, chairman and managing director of the group, said the group would make a total investment of around Rs 30 crore in Nagpur.

The five-star property would come up near the airport. Both the budget hotel and the five-star property would operate like other Kamat group hotels, on a unique 'zero garbage' concept, he said.

"This is a process with the objective of reduce-reuse-recycle so that nothing goes waste," Kamat said.

Some of the waste that cannot be further decomposed would be transformed through vermiculture into compost. This fertiliser would be promoted instead of pesticides for fruit and vegetable cultivation. The produce would then be utilised in the hotel, he said.

"This is the whole concept behind organic farming," Kamat said. The Orchid, in Mumbai, was the first hotel in Asia to bag the coveted Ecotel certification in 1997 for conserving natural resources and enhancing guests' experience.

Kamat's Orchid is at the forefront of many environmental activities. Every year, Kamat himself joins around 200 students from Mumbai-based schools to clean beaches after 'Ganesh Visarjan'. A no-plastic drive is held twice a year in the metro; last year, the team collected 1,500 kg of plastic.

Kamat will also launch TEAM (Tree Environment And Me) in Nagpur with the objective of encouraging people to plant saplings and look after trees. "We have a target of one lakh trees over the next two years," he said.

"The main objective behind the ideology is to change the people's mindset. We have to keep the earth pollution-free so as to leave a legacy of cleaner living and a good environment for the next generation," said Kamat. Waste could always be recycled if not used for land-filling, he observed.

The group is also promoting a novel concept of producing 'wealth out of waste', wherein waste generated by the hotel industry is turned into utility products or display articles by tribals and students. "Our students are extremely talented," Kamat said, adding the project of recycling waste also gave an outlet to their creativity.

The group is also planning to build another Ecotel in Raipur by the end of 2006. It is also launching the first 'Raincentre' in Mumbai at its Lotus Suites in the hotel for rainwater harvesting.