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Virendra Pandit

Ahmedabad, Aug. 22 Hospitality player Neesa Leisure Ltd, which created around 400 rooms across five properties in India since its inception in 2005 with an investment of nearly Rs 200 crore, is now investing another Rs 250 crore to add 600 rooms by 2010.

In June, the Mumbai-based Axis Private Equity Ltd, an arm of Axis Bank, had picked up 15 per cent stake and invested Rs 75 crore in the company promoted by a senior IAS officer-turned-entrepreneur, Mr Sanjay Gupta, the Chairman of the group. Some high net-worth individuals have also picked up five per cent stake in it in the recent past.

The fresh infusion of Rs 250 crore would come from a combination of debt, private equity, internal accrual and mezzanine fund, he said.

Neesa Leisure develops and operates resorts and hotels under the Cambay brand name, derived from the Gulf of Cambay (Khambhat) in Gujarat. Currently, it has five properties, at Gandhinagar (200 rooms), Ahmedabad (55), Gurgaon (22), Jaipur (91) and Kollam, Kerala, (40). In the next two years, it would add 600 rooms by opening hotels in Udaipur, Jodhpur, Neemrana (all Rajasthan) and Shimla (Himachal Pradesh). Its two properties at Jaipur have five-star facilities while the upcoming one at Udaipur would be a three-star one.

Besides, the company also plans hotels at the Special Economic Zone at Mundra (Gujarat) and other SEZs in the country, Mr Gupta, also a former CEO (Infrastructure) with the Adani Group, told Business Line here.

Neesa, which is also into high-end golf and spa businesses, has already set up the Cambay Institute of Hospitality Management at Jaipur, where a Spa Academy has also been planned. The company has tied up with a Thailand firm for its Spa-related activities, Mr Gupta said. Asked about the occupancy ratio, the Chairman said the Ahmedabad-based Cambay Saffire has an average occupancy of 65 to 70 per cent, which is expected to increase to 80 per cent in the coming festival season.

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