Owner of the Oberoi brand, luxury hotels group East India Hotels Ltd says it will invest Rs650 crore to strengthen its presence in Bangaluru and Goa by adding new hotel as part of its growth plans to add another 10 properties and 2,300 rooms. 

The group also plans to integrate the recently established Trident brand under its EIH Associated Hotels.

EIL plans to open 10 hotels in the next three years, of which seven new hotels would be managed by the company and three on a management-contract basis. The company shall add 2,300 rooms in India and abroad by 2011 EIH chairman PRS Oberoi told shareholders at the company's AGM in Kolkata on 14 August.

He said that the company was awaiting government approval, which it hoped to have by October.

EIH will invest around Rs500 crore to build a 225-room luxury hotel in Bangalore spread over eight acres. The rest would be invested on a 75-room property spread over 50 acres at Goa, which would have a hotel and villas. Of these around 15 villas will be built for sale. These hotels will be on properties owned by the company.

These hotels will be funded through a mix of debt and equity in the ratio of 2:1. The promoters are also considering raising their holding from 46.34 per cent.

In April this year EIH rebranded all Trident Hilton hotels to 'Trident' after it ended its alliance last year with Hilton International for marketing and co-branding of Trident hotels in India. (See: Oberoi Towers to be re-branded Trident Towers; terminates Hilton alliance from Trident) 

All its existing Trident properties would be consolidated under EIH Associated Hotels.

EIH also plans to expand both in India and abroad. Oberoi said, ''We plan to build hotels through JVs and management contracts, because owning hotels has become an expensive proposition. It costs around Rs 1.5 crore per room. So, our strategy will be to manage more hotels instead of owning them."

EIH also plans to sign deals with more than two real estate developers with a substanial land bank. In order to ensure flexibility, the company will not get into exclusive contracts with any one developer, thereby leveraging every opportunity which could lead to profits for the company.

EIL will also add new flight kitchens in Kochi, Kozhikode, Kolkata and Mauritius in addition to its existing ones at Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkota. The Kozhikode and Kochi kitchens will be managed by EIH.

EIL has signed management contracts through a foreign subsidiary for its overseas projects which include Al Raha and Al Yas Island Resort in Abu Dhabi, Oberoi Dubai, The Oberoi at Muscat and a resort at Marrakesh, Morocco with 100 rooms and 40 villas.

EIL's  436-room Trident property at Bandra-Kurla in Mumbai is nearing completion and is expected to be operational from January 2009.