Premier Inn, the UK’s biggest hotel brand and part of LSE-listed Whitbread, plans to invest around Rs 4,000 crore in India within the next eight years to build around 75 hotels.

“On an average we will be opening 8 hotels in different parts of the country per year for the next 8-10 years,” said Aly Shariff, managing director, Premier Inn India. “In the first five hotels we have invested Rs.300 crore and there are 650 rooms.” 

The investment will be through the company’s UK parent. “We had spent around Rs 30-32 lakh per room and this would be the average cost for our planned properties.” The company now plans to enter Mumbai and is understood to be in talks for the venture. “We have completed phase one (of India operations) and would now be entering phase two where we will also explore management contracts,” said Shariff. 

Whitbread had, in 2010,  acquired stake in its Indian joint venture partner Emaar MGF.

HT