‘To build one of India’s largest hotel portfolios’

MUMBAI: Billionaire Gautam Adani is checking into hospitality in a big way, with plans to build “one of the country’s largest hotel portfolios”, anchored around his group’s airports and real estate assets. The move positions the group in direct competition with Tata Group’s Taj, ITC Hotels, and the Oberoi chain (in which Reliance Industries and ITC hold about 19% and 16% stakes, respectively). “We will have upwards of 60 hotels across our airports and real estate businesses. It’s like one of the largest hotel portfolios in the country,” Jeet Adani, director of Adani Group told TOI. “All the hotels will be developed by the group, with the exception of Sahara Star hotel (near Mumbai airport’s Terminal 1),” Jeet said.The group has expressed interest in acquiring Sahara Group’s 88 assets, including the landmark Sahara Star, and has already secured creditors’ approval to buy Jaypee Group assets, which include five hotels in northern India. Navi Mumbai will be a major focus. “We are building about 15 hotels in Navi Mumbai,” Jeet said, underscoring the scale of the group’s hospitality ambitions. The group will “tie up with international hotel operators” to manage these properties. The hospitality push is part of Adani Group’s broader city-side development plan, which includes retail, convention centres, and F&B outlets built alongside its airport terminals. The move is to shift away from dependence on aeronautical revenues, which are expected to fall to just 10% from nearly half today, as city-side development and airport lounges take centre stage.A large convention centre is planned for Mumbai, while Navi Mumbai will feature a smaller 25,000-seat arena, Jeet said. RIL’s Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai’s BKC, opened in 2022, is among the country’s largest such facilities. When asked if the group plans to hive off the hotel portfolio into a distinct entity, Jeet responded negatively. “Real estate will stay with Adani Realty and Adani Properties. Whatever is related to the airport will remain within the airport business. However, we have created a common management team to extract maximum value across both,” Jeet said.