Mahindra Holidays to invest Rs 4,000-mn for expansion

Mumbai: Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India, part of the $6-billion Mahindra Group, is investing Rs 400 crore this fiscal to expand its network from the current 800 rooms to 1,500.

“The expansion will be done through a mix of acquisitions, greenfield projects and expansion of existing property,” Mr Arun K. Nanda, Chairman of the company, told presspersons here.

The company also announced the buying of Taj Garden Retreat Thekkady in Kerala for an undisclosed sum, as part of its expansion plans.

Mr Ramesh Ramanathan, Managing Director, said, “Our pan-Indian network of 30 resorts offers a diverse range of holiday experiences, ranging from beach holidays to jungle resorts.

“We took the decision to double our capacity base to 1,500 apartments to cater to our increasing number of member base. We are also adding six new resort locations.”

Out of the 750 new apartments being set up, about 500 will be operational by the end of the current fiscal and the remaining early next fiscal.

Mr Nanda said the company had adequate resources to finance this expansion plan, but for its future acquisitions it may go in for capital increasing programme. “I cannot say anything more on this now,” he said.

Among the property acquired, Club Mahindra bought a large and exclusive heritage property at Ooty in Tamil Nadu, which is being refurbished to become a 90-apartment property.

Among the greenfield projects, the company has added three green field resort locations at Corbett in Uttarakhand, Tungi in Maharashtra and Theog in Himachal Pradesh.

While the Corbett property is a 50-apartment one and will be operation by end of 2008, the 160-apartment at Tungi near Lonavala is spread over 42 acres. The third project at Theog is located at a height of 8,000 ft above sea level.

Mr Ramanathan said the company has added three new leased locations at Yercaud and Masinagudi in Tamil Nadu and Naukuchiatal in Uttarakhand.

Its beach resort at Puducherry also has added 80 apartments to its existing capacity.

In response to a question, Mr Nanda said the company has not recorded any slowdown in addition of members in the wake of the recent developments in the global financial markets.