IHCL To Expand Luxury Offerings Under Claridges Collection Brand

The Indian Hotels Co., part of the Tata Group that manages the Taj brand of hotels, will expand in the boutique luxury space with over 20 properties under the Claridges Collection brand by 2030.

This follows a 25-year management contract between IHCL and Claridges Hotels Pvt. in November 2024.

While IHCL will begin managing the Claridges Hotel in Delhi from April, the group has also decided to bring the Connemara Hotel in Chennai within six months and the Blue Diamond Hotel in Pune under the Claridges Collection brand within 18 months.

Demand for luxury products and services is at an all-time high, led by the significant expansion of households in the high-net-worth bracket, according to IHCL Chief Executive Officer Puneet Chhatwal. "This presents a market opportunity to extend hospitality offerings in the luxury market, without stretching the Taj brand."

Claridges Collections, a curated ensemble of boutique luxury hotels, will be positioned on a par with the company's Taj brand.

Most of the investments for the group, including Claridges, will be in India rather than international. Chhatwal told NDTV Profit. "Our focus will be on domestic luxury hotels and for that, the metro cities and resort destinations will be tapped to expand Claridges Collections."

IHCL — which currently has a portfolio of 375 hotels, 242 operational and 133 in the pipeline — will open 30–36 new hotels at an average of 150 rooms per hotel in financial year 2026. Of these, its Gateway and Ginger brand of mid-to-high scale hotels are expected to drive growth.

Under its 'Accelerate 2030 strategy' unveiled last year, IHCL had announced plans to have a portfolio of over 700 hotels along with doubling its revenue to Rs 15,000 crore by then. Chhatwal also said the company would continue to invest around 5% of its revenue towards new investments.