Chalet Hotels is targeting a portfolio of about 5,500 hotel keys by FY30 as it expands its operations across owned, third-party operated and franchise properties, the company’s managing director and chief executive officer, Shwetank Singh, said in an interview with PTI.
Mumbai | September 7, 2026
The company currently has approximately 3,389 operational keys and an announced pipeline of close to 2,300 keys. The expansion will move Chalet beyond its traditional asset-ownership model and include hotels operated by third parties, franchise properties and hotels under its Athiva brand.
“So, the way we look at our business is that we have graduated from a pure asset-ownership model to having all three models in play,” Singh said. He cited the Ritz-Carlton as an example of a property operated by a third party, Taj properties as franchise assets and Athiva hotels as properties developed under Chalet’s own brand.
The announced pipeline includes a 380-room Taj hotel at Delhi Airport. About 70 rooms from the project are expected to open by the end of the current financial year, according to the company. Ritz-Carlton Hyderabad, Hyatt Regency Airoli and a hotel in Udaipur are expected to become operational in FY29. Chalet’s recently announced Pune Yerawada project is targeted for FY31.
Athiva, launched by Chalet in 2025, accounts for between 1,200 and 1,300 keys in the company’s pipeline. Its initial pipeline was about 900 keys, before approximately 380 keys were added through recently announced projects in Pune and Hyderabad. Singh said Chalet was not planning to introduce another hotel brand and would focus on developing Athiva.
“We are not conceptualising any other brands. Our focus right now is entirely on Athiva,” he said.
The expansion will run alongside Chalet’s commercial real estate operations. The company currently has around 2.4 million square feet of commercial space in operation and another 900,000 square feet under construction. Its overall commercial portfolio is expected to reach approximately 3.2 million to 3.3 million square feet.
Singh said hospitality would remain the company’s primary business despite the scale of its commercial real estate portfolio. “We are fundamentally a hospitality-first company, and that is where we intend to remain focused,” he said.
Chalet is also evaluating additional greenfield and brownfield opportunities beyond its announced pipeline, although it has not set a separate expansion target for those projects. Singh said the company was continuing to assess opportunities while concentrating on the existing pipeline.
On funding, Singh said Chalet was positioned to execute the announced projects without substantially increasing its debt. “We are well funded on the balance sheet and believe we can execute our expansion plans without substantially increasing our debt,” he said. The company’s next milestones include the planned opening of rooms at the Delhi Airport Taj hotel and the scheduled delivery of projects in FY29 and FY31.
