Real Estate Companies

Rising from the shadows

K P Singh Chairman DLF Group

The man of the moment K P Singh, chairman of the DLF Group, briefly describes his vision for the hotel sector and role that his company will play

Catching the bull by its horns seems to be the passion of the DLF group, as it is clearly evident through its aggressive and timely bid for the 17.5 acre National Textile Corporation's land in Mumbai for Rs 702 crore. From the core business of residential and commercial complexes, the group has set its eyes on the development of hotels and malls. And if what has been chalked out materialises within the next five years, DLF will undisputedly be a leading realty player in the business of hospitality, with 125 hotels in its first phase till 2015 at an estimated investment of Rs 4000 crore.

The game plan

"The hotel sector has been identified as a promising sector," exudes K P Singh, chairman, DLF group, "and we are making inroads into this industry purely as realtor and will partner with hotel companies both Indian and international that have the skills as the hospitality business is not our core competency."

The group is looking at all hotel segments - super luxury, four star, budget, business hotels and even service apartments, and are in talks with several international hotel chains for managing their properties. Though the group has tied up with Hilton for some of its undisclosed projects, as part of its strategy, Singh firmly believes that a different hotel chain will manage each segment.

On the horizon

The group is currently scouting for properties in Hyderabad, Kolkata, Goa, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore. "We would be looking at developing hotels in or close to our other developments, such as commercial centres, IT parks and shopping malls," expresses Singh. "And we are planning super luxury hotels in five or six cities over seven years and 100 business and four-star hotels in 50 cities over ten years," he further reveals. The group also plans to set up an independent hotel company to look after the affairs of its hospitality business. The group is also toying with the idea of establishing unique brand names for its hospitality-related projects.

Singh believes…

Singh believes that for most real estate companies foraying into the hospitality industry is a natural progression and with the future in this sector looking extremely promising, there is ample opportunities for many players to play the game.