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MOTLEY COLLECTION OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC NEWS |
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HOSPITALITY
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 Ritz-Carlton to open first hotel in Bangalore
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, leader in global luxury hospitality, has announced plans for its first hotel project in India. This Bangalore-based Ritz Carlton, to be developed by Nitesh Estates, will be a 250-room, five-star property.
The total project cost, pegged at $100 million, will be funded through a mix of debt and equity. Citigroup has committed $30 million as the first tranche of investment in the hotel project, to be opened by early 2010.
This project marks Nitesh Estates’ foray into the hospitality segment, one of the fastest growing and a lucrative segment for the real estate and construction industry. “Initially, Ritz Carlton is coming up in Bangalore. We hope to continue this partnership in other cities, “said Nitesh Shetty, MD, Nitesh Estates.
In line with its positioning, some of the most premium global luxury brands like Cartier, Gucci and Louis Vuitton are all expected to open up hi-end retail boutiques in the hotel, industry sources said.
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 ‘Oberoi Group among top 10 global hotel chains’
Oberoi Hotels and Resorts has grabbed a position among the world’s top 10, as per Zagat Survey, a leading provider of consumer survey-based leisure content. The Indian chain, which manages luxury hotels and cruisers in India, Egypt, Indonesia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia has been ranked one of the world’s top hotels, resorts and spas.
The Oberois have booked a place in the top 10 list along with global high profile hotel chains like Amanresorts, Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, Rosewood, Mandarin Oriental, Raffles, St Regis and Shangri-La.
Oberoi was ranked 9th among the top 10 leading chains, hotels, resorts and spas across the world, according to the 2007/2008 World’s Top Hotels, Resorts and Spas survey report released by Zagat.
In the small hotels, resorts and inns segment with less than 100 rooms, the Oberoi Udaivilas was ranked 6th and in terms of rooms and service it was ranked fifth and enjoyed a tie with Inn/Little Washington DC. While, taking into consideration the dining and facilities the Oberoi Udaivilas was ranked third again a tie with Inn/Little Washington DC.
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| INDIA’S COUNTRYSIDE |
 Even rural India shining: Survey
Signs of economic development are becoming more visible even in rural India with the number of households owning cars, motorcycles and television sets increasing significantly in recent years. The number of rural households possessing cars or jeeps has grown four times between 1993-94 and 2004-05, according to the 61st survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO).
Similarly, the number of people owning motorcycles or scooters recorded a three-fold jump during the 11-year period. In urban areas, households possessing cars or jeeps have gone up from 1.2 per cent in 1993-94 to 4.6 per cent in 2004-05. Similarly, motorcycle or scooter owners have increased from 11.6 per cent to 26.0 per cent.
The survey results reflect the country’s expanding economy, which has been growing over 8 per cent in last three years and more than five per cent in the last decade.
The survey also indicated that possession of durable goods, with the exception of radio, is on the increase in rural and urban areas. The number of households possessing radio in urban areas has declined from 41.8 per cent in 1993-94 to 33.6 per cent in 2004-05. Similarly, the number of radios in rural areas went down marginally from 26.8 per cent to 26.3 per cent during the same period.
On the contrary, the number of households owning TV sets has increased from 40.5 per cent to 66.1 per cent registering a growth of 26 percentage points during the 11-year period. While in rural areas, the number has increased by over 19 percentage points from 7 per cent in 1993-94 to 25.6 per cent in 2004-05.
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AUTOMOBILES
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 Nissan set to enter small car market
Japan’s Nissan Motor has admitted that it is eyeing India’s burgeoning small and compact car market. Days after General Motors (GM) entered the fray with its Spark, Nissan said it would step into the compact and small car market as it would like to be a formidable player in the country.
Currently, Nissan’s presence in India is limited to sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and luxury sedans. “To be competitive in India, we need to have a presence in the compact and small car segment. We are keen to enter the volume and low-price segment,” Nissan Motor India Managing Director Yoshie Motohiro said.
The company last month introduced its luxury sedan Teana priced at Rs 20.47 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).
It will manufacture compact cars from its Chennai facility, being set up under a three-way joint venture (JV) with Renault and Mahindra & Mahindra.
“Besides products from the Chennai plant, we are also looking at introducing the small car model, which will be sourced from Suzuki, in the Indian market,” she said.
The small and compact car segment has become increasingly crowded of late. Maruti Zen Estilo was launched in December last year, just after the Xeta range of the 1200cc petrol Indica by Tata Motors and before Chevrolet U-VA by General Motors. The Fiat Palio Stile and Getz Prime by Hyundai were both launched early this month.
Motohiro, however, reiterated that in the “second phase of its business in India, marked by the introduction of Teana, the company would be focusing on brand building through its premium offerings”.
“We have two more years before the Chennai plant goes onstream. In this period, we are also looking at enhancing portfolio imported through the completely built-up unit route,” she said. On the product offering and marketing side, Motohiro said despite the company being a party to the tripartite JV, Nissan would be going it alone.
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 Honda Siel to invest US$ 485 million in new plant
Honda Siel Cars India Ltd, the Indian unit of Japan’s Honda Motor Co, said it will invest up to Rs 20 billion in a second plant and raise its capacity to more than 150,000 cars by 2010.
The plant in north-west Rajasthan would roll out its first car in the final quarter of 2009 and have an initial capacity of 60,000 units per year, which would be increased to 200,000 units, the company said in a statement.
“With the proposed plant we plan to foray into volume segment-the compact car segment,” the company’s President and Chief Executive, Masahiro Takedagawa, said in the statement.
Honda Siel said it plans to double car production to 100,000 units by end of 2007 at its existing plant in Uttar Pradesh.
This would raise Honda Siel’s total production capacity to more than 150,000 units by 2010, it said.
Passenger car sales in India topped one million in 2006 and are forecast to double by 2010. The market is growing at 20% a year, as an economic boom fuels demand among the increasingly wealthy and aspirational nation of 1.1 billion people.
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more...
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June 2007
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