ITC to open its first luxury hotel under ITC Grand brand in Goa this year

ITC bought the Park Hyatt property from its owners Blue Coast Hotels through an auction held by IFCI (the erstwhile Industrial Finance Corporation of India) for Rs 541 crore in 2015.

But the promoters of Blue Coast Hotels moved courts to stall the sale, stating that the property has been undervalued by IFCI and that it was worth Rs 1,200 crore.

The hotel was kept as collateral against a loan taken from IFCI. But earlier this year, ITC won the case along with a guarantee that the property be handed over to it within six months.

"We regret to inform you that we anticipate a change in ownership and management of the hotel on September 19, 2018. From and after this date, the hotel is expected to no longer be affiliated with Hyatt," Hyatt said in an advisory.

ITC's hotels business is currently concentrated in India. The company operates 107 properties under four distinct brands – 'ITC Hotel' in the luxury segment, 'WelcomHotel' in the upper-upscale segment, 'Fortune' in the mid-market-to-upscale segment, and 'WelcomHeritage' in the leisure and heritage segment.

The company currently has 9,500 rooms across its properties and plans to add another 2,500 rooms in five years to take the total count to 12,000. A total of 24 new properties will be added by ITC, all of which are currently in various stages of construction, and are a mix of managed and owned.