Ginger may add spice with a strategy revamp

MUMBAI: Taj Group subsidiary, Roots Corporation Ltd’s (RCL), is doing a rethink on  expansion plans for its smart basic hotel brand, Ginger, as part of a strategy overhaul.

RCL has decided not to stick to their greenfield projects strategy anymore and adopt a more flexible approach to expand the Ginger chain.

According to Prabhat Pani, CEO of Roots Corporation Ltd, the management has already embarked on alternative measures for expansion, as real estate prices soared. 

“Besides developing greenfield hotels, we have started exploring other options like mall developments, public private partnerships (PPP) and management contracts with existing property owners,” said Pani.

As part of a multifarious approach to expanding the Ginger chain, Roots Corporation has already signed up for their first mall-o-tel in North India. The yet to be launched Ginger hotel will sit atop The Souk mall in Ludhiana. 

The second instance is of a public private partnership (PPP) with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). Earlier this year, the company was awarded the Rail Yatri Niwas hotel in New Delhi as part of IRCTC’s bidding process. The makeover of this property will be done by RCL on a redesign-operate-manage-transfer basis and will be run under Ginger hotel brand. 

Similarly, Roots Corporation will be setting up a Ginger hotel on the premises of the Institute of Hotel Management (IHM), Guwahati. Eventually, the hotel management institute will be relocated to a new campus in Guwahati.

Pani is of the opinion that the company will aggressively pursue the diversified approach.