Business   

Sinclairs Hotels to invest Rs. 50 cr.

Special Correspondent

Six more rooms would be added in Andaman & Nicobar

KOLKATA: The Pressman group which controls the Sinclairs hotel chain is planning to invest about Rs. 50 crore over five years to add rooms to its existing properties and double the number of hotels from five now.

Sinclairs Hotels Ltd (SHL) Chairman, Navin Suchanti, told reporters that the expansion might be either through the acquisition route or through greenfield ventures, but eastern region was the preferred destination.

He, however, noted that there were few acquisition opportunities here.

At present, SHL has three properties in West Bengal — at Darjeeling, Dooars and Siliguri — and one hotel each in Udhagamandalam and the Andaman & Nicobar. SHL, which is a zero-debt company, proposed to fund this expansion programme in a phased manner through internal accruals mostly.

Pressman Advertising and Marketing, which has recently forayed into real estate, expects substantial cash generation from its maiden project at Siliguri.

Udhagamandalam project

Referring to the Udhagamandalam hotel, which has 88 rooms, Mr. Suchanti said the hotel business there had seen a growth of about 35 per cent. He expected this to get a boost once the city's rose garden was declared a Garden of Excellence by the International Rose Federation.

He said six more rooms would be added in Andaman & Nicobar to make it a 36-room hotel at an investment of Rs. 30 lakh.

Chalsa venture

However, it was the group's newest venture at Chalsa in Dooars, which was exciting the promoters and the senior management alike.

The resort, which was built at a cost of Rs. 8.50 crore has recently undergone a Rs. 1.50 crore upgradation to improve its conference facilities. The product is now positioned as a MICE destination for corporate meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions.

He said in terms of domestic tourist arrival, West Bengal was the seventh with Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Maharashtra ahead of it.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Economists pitch for further reforms
Panel to promote jatropha cultivation
Sinclairs Hotels to invest Rs. 50 cr.
Forum to focus on Mekong-India cooperation

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu