The Tata Group is planning a major expansion in the international hospitality business by boosting the operations of Indian Hotels Company Ltd. Disclosing this here on Tuesday, Indian Hotels managing director RK Krishna Kumar told newsmen that the company wanted to make its presence in markets like the United States and even China. He said Indian Hotels, which ran the Taj group of hotels in the country and abroad, was planning to own properties in other prospective markets.

"If you see our footprint in Indian there is a compelling case for going out," Mr Krishna Kumar said adding that though the company has a presence in foreign countries with 16 properties these were all in the Indian Ocean region. Hinting that the company would like to go for a major acquisition drive at the international level Mr Krishna Kumar, who was instrumental in Tata Tea's acquisition of Tetley of the UK, said: "I would like to do a Tetley in the hotel business."

He also said Indian Hotels was currently going through a trimming exercise by reducing the large number of subsidiaries under it. During the current year already seven such companies were merged. There were still 57 companies which should be brought to the level of 30 by the end of this fiscal (March 2003) and these would be further reduced next year, he said. Mr Krishna Kumar said the company was looking for high-quality properties in the US and even in China.

Stressing that the company would like to have a presence in the US, he said that China was also a highly prospective market in the long-term perspective. Detailing the international operation of the Indian Hotels currently, Mr Krishna Kumar said most of the overseas hotels of the Taj Group were located in Maldives, Sri Lanka and the UAE. The company was ready to meet the international competition as over the last few years it underwent complete transformation and currently "it is the best in the business."