Group will soon announce an international partner for the hospitality business

• In June 2007, the DS Group signed on MoU with Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority to set up the first five-star hotel, which will be managed by a reputed hotel chain.

• The group has acquired land in cities such as Jaipur, Udaipur, Ranthambore, Shimla, Mussorie, Corbett Park, Manali and Goa to set up hotels and resorts.

DHARAMPAL Satyapal Group, the popular chewing tobacco maker, which sells Baba, mouth-freshener brand Pass Pass and Rajnigandha paan masala is betting big in the hospitality business in the domestic market and has set side Rs. 531 crore for the business for growth in the segment over the next three years. The company is all set to announce an international partner in the next few days. The company is also aggressively looking at promoting its spices business under the Catch brand and is in the process of expanding its food and beverages category by introducing a new category during the festival season this year.

“In the next 7 to 10 days, we will be announcing the name of our international partner for the hospitality business. We are looking at opening up fivestar and budget hotels and also looking at setting up three to four five-star hotels overt the next three years,” said Rajiv Kumar, vice-chairman and managing director.

“At present, the tobacco category is our most profitable business, which contributes close to 44 percent to our total turnover, followed by mouth-freshener, which accounts for 36 percent of our total business. Then comes and food and beverages category that accounts for 7.5 percent and the rest 12.5 percent comes from other businesses such as rubber thread, packaging and cement,” added Kumar.

Earlier in June 2007, the DS Group signed a memorandum of understanding with Guwahati Metro Politan Development Authority (GMDA) to set up the first five-star hotel, of the north east, in Guwahati. The 2000 room project is the next upcoming hotel, which will be managed by a reputed hotel chain. DS Group ready made an agreement in principle with Carlson Hotels Asia Pacific for their five star brand, Radisson, which will be operating the facility under a specific management agreement contract with the DS Group. The company has also started working on its airport hotel project in Kolkata and is looking to complete the hotel by 2010.

In addition, the DS Group has acquired land in cities such as Jaipur, Udaipur, Ranthambore, Shimla, Mussorie, Corbett Park, Manali and Goa to set up hotels and resorts managed by well-known international players in the category.