Taj Residency to add 100 more rooms

Taj GVK Hotels, which owns three five star hotels in the city, has decided to increase the number of rooms in its business class hotel "� Taj Residency, by 100 rooms to take up the total number of rooms at the hotel to 250.

The company plans to invest Rs 40 crore on the expansion, which is expected to be completed next year.

The other two hotels of the company "� Taj Krishna and Taj Banjara, together have about 400 rooms. Because of the busy season, all the three hotels are currently running at over 80 per cent occupancy level.

The company is currently renovating the property at Chandigarh, which it had taken over from India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) some time back. The company has earmarked about Rs 50 crore for renovation and expansion of the new property.

"In addition to this, we are also exploring various opportunities for expansion into newer markets," a company official said, without disclosing the details of the specific locations that they are planning to enter.

The company's board of directors which met here today to take into account the financial results for the nine months period, has announced a interim dividend of 15 per cent to the shareholders.

During the nine months, Taj GVK Hotels reported a 11 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 6.3 crore, which was Rs 61 lakh higher than the profit posted for the corresponding period of last fiscal.