Hospitality firm Sarovar Hotels and Resorts is looking to open 15 more properties across India by the end of this year, adding around 900 rooms to its portfolio as part of its expansion plans in the country, a top company official said.
The company currently manages 85 hotels with 6,500 rooms in India and three locations overseas.
"We are optimistic that we should cross the hundred mark this year. We plan to open 15 hotels across India by end of 2020," Sarovar Hotels and Resorts Managing Director Ajay K Bakaya told PTI.
The upcoming hotels will be mainly under the Sarovar Portico and Sarovar Premiere brands, he added.
The new hotels will come up at locations such as Bodh Gaya, Morbi, Katra, Dibrugarh, Latur, Udaipur, Jalandhar, Dalhousie, Jagdalpur and Rajahmundry, among others, Bakaya said.
"We are also planning to add a very large convention centre at Rajamundry in Andhra Pradesh along with a 100-room Sarovar Premiere there, as part of our policy of developing tier II and tier III cities," he added.
Asked about the business model the company follows, Bakaya said Sarovar Hotels and Resorts is a hotel management company and follows an asset light model.
On the growth roadmap for the company, Bakaya said: "We have now established link between our Indian hotel software and the French international platform. We now have a global distribution system (GDS) connect. That is a major plus for us to bring more business."
The company's investment is and will be on technology, processes, design changes as well as on people, he added.
Commenting on the growth of the hospitality sector in the country, Bakaya said: "The issue in India still remains the cost of capital. A longer time frame of 15 to 18 years for loan repayment at an interest rate of 10 to 11 per cent will have a very positive impact for the sector."
Sarovar Hotels' three overseas properties are in Africa -- one in Zambia and two in Kenya.
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