This was disclosed by India's ambassador Sanjiv Arora on Sunday while addressing a business and networking meeting, jointly organised by Indian embassy and Indian Business and Professionals Network (IBPN) with a delegation of CII (Confederation of Indian Industries) and federal Ministry of Tourism.
The meeting came ahead of the Incredible India Tourism Investors’ Summit (IITS) to be held in New Delhi next month.
However, the envoy did not elaborate on the proposed plans of Taj Group in Qatar, where already an Indian hotel management company Aiana Group has formed a joint venture with Al Faisal Holding to create Aiana Qatar.
Early this year it unveiled the design of Aiana Suites and Residences, a 180-key luxury property in the business district of West Bay in Doha.
A spokesperson for IHC, headquartered in Mumbai, told Gulf Times that the group would continue to look at various markets in the GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council), including Qatar, for the right opportunity for further expansion of the Taj brand in the region.
In May, IHC chief executive Rakesh Sarna had said that the group was looking towards the GCC and South-East Asia to diversify and optimise its revenues. The group's focus would be on GCC cities such as Doha, Muscat and Abu Dhabi, he had said.
Taj Group comprises 108 hotels in 63 locations, including 25 Ginger hotels across India, with an additional 17 international hotels in the Maldives, Malaysia, Australia, the UK, the US, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Africa and the Middle East.
Meanwhile, addressing the business meeting, Varun Sood of Invest India/Make in India, outlined the abundant investment prospects for global and GCC investors in the Asian giant's growing tourism, which contributed 6.5% India's gross domestic product in 2015 and is the third largest foreign exchange earner.
India’s tourism market is expected to grow to $419bn by 2022 compared to $148bn in 2015, Sood said, adding foreign tourist arrivals in India have increased steadily at 4.5% to 8.03mn in 2015.
The key growth drivers in India’s tourism sector are business spending, which is projected to go up from $19bn in 2015 to $41bn by 2026, and leisure spending, which is slated to rise from $93bn in 2015 to $208bn by 2026, he said.
Historically, an internal rate of return of 13.4% could be expected from tourism and its related infrastructure projects in the Asian markets, he added.
Highlighting that the federal Ministry of Tourism has invested more than $400mn on developing tourism infrastructure in and around tourist destinations, Sood said it could trigger private investments in hotel accommodation, home stays, entertainment and amusement, eatery and restaurants, souvenir and theme parks.
CII director Nandinee Kalita said the upcoming IITS, with the active participation from state governments, would be one-stop shop for investors.