Madhvani to sink sh419b in hotel business in India

Madhvani Group, one of the largest business conglomerates in Uganda is to invest Rs560 crore (about sh419b) to set up seven hotels in India, according to Roni Madhvani, the Group director.

The Business Standard, an Indian online newspaper, noted that the Madhvani group plans to target religious tourism; sets eyes on the cities of; Rishikesh, Shirdi, Varanasi, Purvi and Uttarakh among others.

Madhvani Group, one of the largest diversified private-sector groups in East Africa, plans to invest around Rs 560 crore to open seven hotels targeting religious tourism in India. Going forward, it will also look at listing its hotel business in India.

Each property will have about 100-120 keys and will attract an investment of around Rs 75-80 crore, revealed Roni Madhvani.

The development comes at a time when Mayur Madhvani, the managing director of Madhvani Group, has just inaugurated a new property last week, which will be managed by Sarovar Hotels & Resorts at the temple town of Tirupati.

The Tirupati property, MarasaSarovar Premiere, attracted an investment of around Rs 75-80 crore, said Anil Madhok, managing director, Sarovar Hotels Pvt Ltd. Madhok is the exclusive partner for Madhvani Group to develop, run and maintain the hotels in India.

"We would like to form a circuit of religious tourism," said Madhvani, who claims that no Group in India has focus on religious tourism in India.

Once the eight properties are on stream fully, in the next 5-8 years, the company will have sizable base and then it would look at going public, said Madhvani.

With a total asset base in excess of $1 billion, the conglomerate globally has interest in agriculture and agro-processing, sugar, tea, steel and others.

A focus area for the Group also lies in tourism with activities centered in the main National Parks of Uganda.

The Madhvani Group operates the two safari lodges in Uganda. The Group is now rehabilitating a third lodge, Chobe Safari Lodge.

It is also planning a beach resort in Zanzibar and is looking for opportunities for tourism investments in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Middle East and India.