30 minute interview

‘India will be Ramee Group's core focus’

Sudhanshu Kumar Singh
Group General Manager, Ramee Group of Hotels

After having cemented its foothold in the Indian market with five hotel properties, Dubai based Ramee Group of Hotels is looking at expanding its portfolio to 15 hotels in India, Sudhanshu Kumar Singh, group general manager, Ramee Group of Hotels in conversation with Savio Rodrigues…

Where does India feature in the group's next five-year plan?

Between Middle East and India, the group is looking at commanding a fleet of 50 hotels within the next five years. Owing to the tremendous potential of the travel and hospitality market, India has been identified as a high priority market by the management and we are working on a planned yet aggressive expansion in the country.

What are your expansion plans and what are the key locations in the group's radar?

On an immediate basis will be our projects in Pune, Ahmedabad and Jaipur, following which we plan to set up properties in Goa, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Delhi. We are also considering hotel options in the new emerging states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttaranchal and have initiated talks with key people in their respective tourism ministries.

Will the group be looking at the management, franchise route to fuel its expansion?

Management and franchise route is undoubtedly a successful strategy that can be adopted like many other international and Indian hotel companies, but as a group policy we would like to own and manage the properties.

What is the kind of expansion in terms of monies that the group is looking at and how are the funds being accrued?

We haven't zeroed on the amount of money the group is likely to spend on our expansion plans as it solely depends on the kind of properties or land we finalise on. The funding for our expansion will be through internal accruals and we are in talks with certain financial institutions as well.

Will the group be looking at the IPO route to fund its expansion in India?

Coming out with an IPO is another strong consideration in the management circle and it is a viable option to look at. Nevertheless, such a step will only see fructification within a year. We are confident that we will be looking at walking down the IPO route.