Promoters of the EIH Ltd, part of the Oberoi Group, are planning to raise its stake ?gradually?. They have 46.37% stake in EIH at present.
PRS Oberoi, chairman of the EIH, said, ?We are open to increasing our stake in the company but not as of now.?
?At one point of time we had 39% stake, which gradually increased to 46.37%. I would like to increase our stake, but slowly,? he said.
Present at a press conference after the company?s 58th AGM, he said, ?EIH is planning to build two new hotels in Goa and Bangalore with an investment of Rs 650 crore, apart from 10 new projects of the group under various stages of construction and development. The debt-equity ratio of the projects will be 2:1.?
?Our investment is very meger as we have only three joint ventures- Marakkesh, Hyderabad and Bangalore,? Oberoi said. EIH has a joint venture (JV) with Larsen & Toubro under the Trident brand, where its equity participation is 26%. Hyderabad facility is also a JV where the group has 16% stake. It will have 20% stake in the Marakkesh project.
?We are having a problem with the height in Bangalore. I hope that will be resolved by next month,? said Oberoi. The group will own the proposed Bangalore facility, a 225-key hotel. It has earmarked an investment of Rs 500 crore for the project.
The facility at Goa, to be constructed with an investment of Rs 100 crore, is awaiting necessary approvals. ?I hope the Goa project will be cleared by October,? he added. The Goa project would have a hotel and villas on 50 acre.
The group plans to add 2,300 more rooms in India and abroad in next three and a half years. It runs a chain of 30 hotels and luxury cruisers in five countries under the Oberoi Hotels & Resorts and Trident brands. The projects under management contract will come up in India and Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Muscat. ?Construction of the 436-key Trident in Mumbai is nearing completion and is expected to start its operation by January 09,? Oberoi said.