Fresh from his acquisition of Leela Group's Kovalam property, NRI industrialist Ravi Pillai is looking to expand his presence in the hotel sector in India. His RP Group of Companies is keen to build on its brand The Raviz, which is positioned in the 5-4 star category.

“We are keen on expansion opportunities in Mumbai. We will acquire land and have a mixed land use development, which will include a hotel,” said Mr Pillai, Chairman and CEO, RP Group of Companies, which has interests in industrial construction, infrastructure, petrochem and trading.

“If we get a good opportunity for hotel acquisition, we could look at it in cities like Mumbai and New Delhi,” he added. Besides the Leela Kovalam, the company has three other operational hotels, including the Versailles Hotel at Dubai, Kadavu Hotel at Kozhikode and The Raviz at Kollam.

“We are looking to build up our brand Raviz. We have two hotels under construction under the Raviz brand at Dubai and Kozhikode. In Kozhikode, the hotel is going to be part of mall development,” Mr Pillai said.

Chennai presence

Asked if the company is also staking a claim to acquire Leela Chennai, Mr Pillai said: “I cannot comment. I have been approached by various hotel sellers in Chennai.” He, however, said that the company is keen on establishing its presence in Chennai either through acquisition or construction of a hotel project.

Even as he outlined his expansion plans, Mr Pillai pointed out that the hotel business is a challenging one, with lower revenues and long gestation periods, with fund raising also a difficult proposition.

“Land price and construction costs are high that building a hotel can be challenging. Acquiring hotels in that scenario helps give quick returns on investments,” he added.

Mr Pillai was in Delhi as part of the delegation from Bahrain aiming to boost bilateral ties between the two countries. He said he had put a team in place to expand the group's core industrial construction business in India.

“I am going to focus on expansion in Australia and India. I am also keen on recruiting workforce from India for Australia and plan to establish a training centre for the same,” he said.

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