PRS Oberoi-led EIH Ltd, formerly East India Hotels is expected manage Reliance Industries(RIL) owned hotel under the Trident brand in Navi Mumbai marking RIL’s foray into the hospitality business.

“We are thinking about a fourth property in Navi Mumbai. Nothing has been finalised yet. The 15 acres of land is with Reliance. They have thought of this project, and it will be developed by them. As of now, the plan is this will be managed by us,” said EIH Chairman P R S Oberoi.

Earlier, EIH’s shareholders had approved the proposal to induct Nita Ambani, wife of RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani, on its board.

"There is no model as such. The project is thought out by RIL. They also need a manager, and we are there. It is not that we have developed some model and are bound by that,” said Oberoi.

Oberoi did not comment on the investment for the project, as it would be developed by RIL. It is likely to be a multi-development project and would have serviced apartments and apartments for sale, along with a 160-180 room hotel under the Trident brand.

EIH, which currently accounts for project in Bangalore, Goa and Hyderabad, is aiming to expand to smaller cities. “We are looking at Tier-II cities. We have seen a couple of sites in Ahmedabad and Pune,” Oberoi said. These projects, apart from the ones in Goa and Hyderabad, are likely to be under management contracts.

In the case of the Goa and Bangalore projects, EIH owns the land.

The company has decided to opt for management contracts for further expansion, including international expansion. “We have plans to go to China. We are seriously looking at it. We should start with one in Shanghai. We have not finalised it yet, but would like someone to develop it for us,” said Vice-Chairman S S Mukherji. “We are already asset-heavy. The plan is for future projects, we should go for management contracts,” he added.

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