Mine host, in control

LUNCH WITH BS: Nakul Anand

Nakul Anand

Welcomgroup's chief is said to be fond of his food - but is he? You be the judge...

In Business Standard's history of lunching out, there have been good meals and indifferent ones, but rarely one as fast and high-pressured as the one with Nakul Anand who, for the record, is divisional chief executive-hotels division, ITC Limited, which is a mealy mouthful that means he's the top boss at Welcomgroup. And just for the record, you might want to apply to Anand for management tips, or his famed team building skills, or the remarkable efficiencies he brings to his job, but he isn't someone you'd want to take out for a leisurely lunch, writes Business Standard.

Because Anand does everything at twice the speed of most other reasonably efficient bosses, he expects you to talk fast, and eat fast, and get on with it. We are getting on with it alright "" he's talking rapid-fire (BBC's Mastermind India might want to keep him in mind should they consider a replacement for Siddharth Basu as host) in between helpings of something the chef has put together from a Mongolian barbecue. We are at the Fortune Hotel's 24x7 diner in Gurgaon, where all other tables are similarly occupied by businessmen in a hurry, and I'm feeling sorry for myself and my Goan fish curry that is fated to go back, not because it isn't excellent but because Anand is firing back answers before I've asked the questions.

It's difficult to imagine him once as a student DJ at Cellar (now DV-8) in downtown New Delhi, or relaxing (he claims he does) over his collection of Rolling Stones, BeeGees and Jethro Tull, because these days things other than music have been exercising his mind. For starters, the tourism industry has exploded, there are more guests than rooms on offer, and the Starwood Hotels agreement that appendaged the familiar "Sheraton" tag to Welcomgroup hotels is in imminent danger of collapse.

"The existing relationship ended in December 2005," he confirms, "we extended it by six months, until June 2006. For an industry such as ours, it has been a long and healthy relationship, which is why we're on the table discussing it with each other." The reason, though Anand will not confirm it, is Starwood's desire to enter the market on its own steam, beginning in Gurgaon, to cut itself a larger wedge of profits from India. "The opportunities now are different," says Anand, whose chain, too, is in talks with developers for land in Gurgaon, where it wants a seminal ITC hotel.

For those not in the know, Welcomgroup runs a chain of 65 hotels, or maybe that should be four chains consisting of the top-notch ITC prefixed brand (Delhi's Maurya, Mumbai's Maratha, Chennai's Park), the next rung's WelcomHotel (in Agra, Jaipur, Baroda, and so on), Fortune Park (which consists of standard international hotels for businessmen in business locations such as the one where we're lunching in Gurgaon), and WelcomHeritage (palaces, forts, resorts).

"We've spent the past three years completing our spread," says Anand "" filling the void in Mumbai with not one but two hotels (Maratha and Grand Central), and commissioning the fabulously designed Sonar Bangla in Kolkata. "These three hotels have added tremendous value to the brand." In this same time, the chain has renovated ageing properties in Bangalore, Agra and Jaipur, added a presidential floor to the Maurya in Delhi, exclusive women-only floors and services in its business hotels, and is continuing its thrust for additional properties in Gurgaon, Delhi, Hyderabad and a first-ever hotel in Goa. "It's about opportunity," Anand explains, "funding is not a problem."

Of course it isn't, with room rates exploding through the roof. Anand shakes his head: "The average rate realisation at Maurya," he insists, "is more or less similar to the rates in 1995-96, which is the last time the industry had seen a similar peak." Then why the widely-held view that prices are steeper than in comparative destinations around the world? "Compare cities with cities," retorts Anand, "resorts with resorts. Don't compare Delhi with some offshore resort in Pattaya. Compare Delhi or Mumbai with New York, or London, or Dubai and you'll see we aren't overpriced "" in fact, we aren't even close to Dubai tariffs!"

Does he see the current demand for India as another bubble? "We're short of 1,00,000 rooms," he says. "The country's economic reforms are irreversible and there's tremendous interest in India. I would have to be very pessimistic to say we can't sustain the growth." I've requested the waiter for a cup of coffee (having renunciated the fish), and even that's rapidly cooling on the table. "Our service is equal, if not better, than other Asian countries, but where we have a greater advantage is in our command of English." His concerns, therefore, deal with recruitment and manpower training (Welcomgroup is doubling its intake and launching a shorter legionnaire's programme directly after school).

A student himself of the group's management training programme (he joined in 1978), Anand says Welcomgroup has changed faster than other chains to adapt to the needs of the business traveller (through specialised accommodation), evolving products, and supremacy in its culinary offerings. Bukhara and Dum Pukht are mega-Indian cuisine brands, Pan-Asian, West View and Dublin are recognisable too (with somewhat more mixed reviews from diners), and at the Grand Central in Mumbai, Kebabs & Curries has been successfully launched. "We will extend these brands to more hotels," he says.

"But the most interesting change of all," Anand has now been glancing at his watch every few minutes, "is in the nature of the hotel guest who wants to be in control of everything. He wants," he's glancing at his watch again, "to make his own tea in his room; he wants his own ironing board" "" and not because it's cheaper "" "he won't even give his bags to the bellhop because he wants to be in control of his own documents and laptop."

And because Anand's time away from adding new hotels and restaurants to the group, and boosting revenues to its kitty, might appear like he's been out of control for a while, I find myself savouring a second, hot cup of coffee "" and catching my breath "" alone. Time to get back to the office to grab a bite of lunch!