The Hindu Business Line : IHHR Hospitality outlines Rs 500-cr plan for biz hotels

Future plans
Bags maintenance contract for spa in Mauritius.
The Ananda chain would dot the the landscapes in Amritsar, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad in the next two years in addition to a second property in Bangalore.

Mr G.K. Khanna (left), Chairman, IHHR Hospitality Pvt Ltd, and Mr Ashok Khanna, Managing Director, addressing a press conference in Bangalore on Friday. - G.R.N. Somashekar

Bangalore , July 7

IHHR Hospitality Pvt Ltd, which launched the country's first branded spa resort Ananda, on Friday announced a Rs 500-crore investment plan to fund its foray into business hotels with the first of its new brand Ista being opened in Bangalore.

IHHR has also bagged the management contract for a destination Spa resort in Mauritius, giving it the first exposure outside the country.

Mr G.K. Khanna, Chairman, IHHR Hospitality, said the 55-suite beach front "Shanti Ananda" has been promoted by a group of NRIs from London at a cost of $35 million. It would be ready by the end of this year.

Addressing a press conference here to announce the opening of the 147-room Ista in Bangalore, Mr Khanna said the hotel was built at a cost of Rs 82 crore. ``With Ananda in the Himalayas, we pioneered the concept of destination spas in India and built it into a successful global brand. We want to repeat the success with Ista by building world's best hotels for business travellers,'' Mr Khanna said.

The Ananda chain would dot the the landscapes in Amritsar Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad in the next two years in addition to a second property in Bangalore.IHHR would fund the expansion programme from its internal resources and debt with equity forming 60 per cent of it, according to Mr Ashok Khanna, Managing Director.

Training institute

He said the company was planning to set up a spa training institute in Hyderabad to meet the demand for trained manpower for managing the spas. The institute, which would take 60 candidates in the first batch, is a part of the plan to meet its captive demand, Mr Khanna said.

He said IHHR was planning to set up an Ananda resort in the US after finding an ideal location.

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