He is partnering with two other strategic promoters, a US based investment banker and a hospitality industry expert, a former marketing head of Leela Hotels.
The promoters aim to build India's largest mid-tier business hospitality chain of about 1,000 hotels across 100 cities and towns over next ten years. Each hotel will have about 50 to 125 rooms depending on the location and will need an average investment of around Rs 500 million ($12 m) .
The projects are expected to go on stream by the end of the year. A formal announcement is expected next month.
According to reports in the TOI, the promoters are currently talking to leading private equity players and institutional investors for funds.
Due to the large investment involved, promoters are said to be looking at a split business model. While they will own and operate a large number of hotels, many will also be marketed under the franchise route, reports said
Though the brand name for the hotel chain is yet to be finalised, Gopinath and his team are already looking for talent and finding someone from overseas to head the business. |