IHCL turns the midscale tide

With an ambitious goal of 700 hotels by 2030, IHCL is not just expanding, it is redefining the future of Indian hospitality.

Lipla Negi

Nothing is ‘too ambitious’ in the professional playbook of Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director and CEO, Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL). A leader who believes in action over rhetoric, Chhatwal lives by a simple mantra, “We promise, we deliver.” With 2030 in sight, the Indian hospitality giant has set an audacious yet calculated goal — to upscale to 700 hotels, a milestone that not only reflects the company’s growth trajectory but also resonates with India’s booming tourism potential. Drawing parallels between India’s economy — poised to become the third largest in the world by 2030 — and IHCL’s ambitious ‘Accelerate 2030’ strategy, Chhatwal sees a shared destination with India poised to clock a projected 6.5 per cent GDP growth, both IHCL and India are racing towards the same finish line — defining a new era of global hospitality leadership.

On the brink of tourism boom

Calling tourism one of India’s biggest ‘soft powers’, Chhatwal explained, “For a long time, tourism has been a key growth catalyst, but we have not yet unlocked its full potential. It is not just about GDP contribution or job creation, tourism carries an influence, a soft power for the country that we believe can be utilised far more effectively in the coming years.”

Combine this with India’s rapid infrastructure growth — from highways and trains to airports — and the future of the sector looks brighter than ever. According to Chhatwal, this is a big boost for both domestic and inbound travel. “The investment the government has made over the last seven years has been phenomenal,” he said. Adding to that is a new wave of discretionary consumption, especially among younger Indians who are now at the helm of travel decisions. “The doubling of highways, trains, and airports strongly supports the demand,” he noted.

Chhatwal, who has closely tracked the surge in branded hotels, sees domestic demand far outpacing supply. He pointed out, “Ten years ago, India had just 1,00,000 branded hotel rooms. Today, we are at 2,00,000 rooms but to put that into perspective, that is still less than Dubai and Singapore combined, and even less than one state in the US. That is the size of the opportunity.”

It is this gap that fuels IHCL’s Accelerate 2030 vision. Chhatwal predicts the next phase of growth will come twice as fast. “What took India ten years to double — from 1,00,000 to 2,00,000 — will take half the time to get to 3,00,000. The runway for growth is massive, and we are just getting started.”

Ginger: A transformative force

Turning resilience into market dominance, IHCL, under Puneet Chhatwal’s leadership, is now sharpening its focus on the midscale segment of India’s hospitality sector.

Backed by the robust growth trajectory of Ginger — its midscale, value-oriented brand — IHCL is strategically expanding its footprint in a category that has witnessed the fastest acceleration in demand post-pandemic. By capitalising on shifting travel trends and rising demand

from tier II and III cities, the company aims to consolidate its position as the dominant player in the midscale segment, which is one of hospitality’s fastest-growing and most competitive segments.

From being India’s largest hospitality company to emerging as one of its strongest, IHCL is charting an ambitious path of scale, size, and synergies. In line with its five-year road map ‘Accelerate 2030’, IHCL recently entered into a strategic partnership to acquire a controlling stake in ANK Hotels and Pride Hospitality, while also signing a distribution agreement with Brij Hospitality. By bringing the decades-old hospitality expertise of these companies into its fold — whose promoters belong to the Clarks Hotels family — IHCL gains a definitive competitive edge in the increasingly competitive midscale segment. With this decisive move, IHCL has catapulted its portfolio to over 550 hotels. Over the next few months, these hotels will be integrated operationally and migrated to IHCL’s brandscape, predominantly under the Ginger brand, among others.

“Furthering IHCL’s leading presence in the midscale segment with the successful transformation of Ginger, this partnership doubles our portfolio with 240+ hotels addressing the growing needs of aspirational travellers,” explained Chhatwal. He further noted that these hotels are on a capital light arrangement of management contracts and select operating leases. ANK Hotels and Pride Hospitality have a portfolio of 135 hotels in the midscale segment spread across 110 locations.

Ginger has not only been an experiment in resilience but also a reflection of the sector’s growing appetite for big-box hotels that deliver well-designed rooms, strong F&B offerings, and personalised guest experiences in equal measure. “We will soon open a property at Bengaluru Airport, with another under construction in Goa. Most recently, we signed a deal for a hotel at Kolkata Airport, slated to open in the next 12–14 months. This will give Ginger a significant footprint across five airports,” he added.

Ginger’s steadily rising margins within IHCL’s overall revenue mix fuel this optimism, he asserted, “The margins from these newly reimagined, rebuilt, and repositioned Ginger hotels stand at over 50 percent, with the sweet spot around 55 percent — and some properties even crossing 60 percent. As I always say, when you think of something and execute relentlessly, it gets done.”

This partnership doubles the Ginger portfolio with 240+ hotels, addressing the growing needs of aspirational travellers

The margins from these newly reimagined, rebuilt, and repositioned Ginger hotels stand at over 50%

Table: Annexure – Portfolio as on date