ITC Hotels’ demerger marks new era of stakeholder value creation: Sanjiv Puri
«Last 24 months, it has been 30 hotels. And there is a plan to scale up to 200 hotels in the next few years. But I am sure it is going to be at least, because we have seen that we are able to accelerate the pace going forward,» says Sanjiv Puri, Chairman, ITC.
First of all, congratulations for the listing. Now, this demerger has happened. The company is now part of the stock exchange. What is your vision for ITC Hotel now?
Sanjiv Puri: Firstly, thank you very much. So, this is a legacy over several decades where we have today a very strong foundation. Of course, iconic properties, iconic cuisines. We are very well known for our service standards.
We also had the privilege of serving everybody at G20 which was acknowledged. So, we have a strong foundation. The opportunity in India is immense. Under the government several interventions have happened in the economy that have truly transformed it into a very vibrant economy and we see a lot happening in the economy.
So, we are finding that infrastructure is very good. Air connectivity, road, rail connectivity, convention facilities of global standards have been built. Delhi is one great example. And with all of this and also the trend towards leisure tourism, the ability to also take a break during the non-holiday period, I think all this is driving this industry forward and there is therefore a supply-demand mismatch.
In fact, demand is more. So, it augurs well for the industry and the opportunity in India is much more. India just has 270 rooms per million. Global
