Juniper Hotels to invest ₹2,000 cr, double room inventory by FY31

Juniper Hotels Ltd will invest ₹2,000 crore to double its room inventory to more than 4,000 keys by the 2030-31 financial year, Chief Executive Officer Varun Saraf said in an interview.

The company, a joint venture between Saraf Hotels and Hyatt Hotels Corporation, owns seven Hyatt-branded properties including Grand Hyatt Mumbai, Andaz Delhi and Hyatt Delhi Residences at Aerocity. Its "Juniper 2.0" growth strategy calls for five new hotels by FY31, adding roughly 1,206 rooms.

One of those hotels opens in Bengaluru in October 2026. The remaining projects are in Delhi, Bengaluru and Assam.

Saraf said the capex will come from internal accruals. All five greenfield projects sit on land the company already owns at no cost, so the entire ₹2,000 crore goes toward construction. The largest single project is a 550-room Grand Hyatt in Dwarka, Delhi, opposite Aerocity. The seven-lakh-square-foot development requires about ₹850 crore.

Juniper also plans to grow through acquisitions. Saraf said two targets are under advanced negotiation. The assets, expected to add roughly 600 rooms combined, would be within driving distance of Mumbai and Delhi and cater to leisure and corporate MICE segments.

"We need profitable assets that add value to us as well as our shareholders," he said. The company has headroom to raise debt for acquisitions. Current debt of about ₹700 crore is 1.5 times EBITDA, implying annual EBITDA of roughly ₹467 crore. Saraf expects EBITDA to more than double to ₹1,000 crore in four years, driven by higher revenue, better room rates and operating margins.

Juniper does not intend to build a countrywide presence. Saraf said the company will focus on markets where it can develop and create value from hotel assets. It sees itself as an asset developer, not primarily a hotel management company.

"Sometimes it will be slow, this is for the long term," he said. "It is about creating those assets, which will give value to all our shareholders and stakeholders in the long run."

The expansion plan signals confidence in India's hospitality demand, particularly in the luxury and MICE segments. Juniper's asset-heavy approach – developing hotels on owned land – differs from the asset-light model many hotel chains favour. That means higher upfront capital, Saraf said, the payoff comes from long-term asset appreciation and operating leverage.

Hyatt, which holds a stake in the joint venture, did not comment beyond the interview. The H stock page tracks Hyatt's market performance.

The Bengaluru property is set to open in October 2026, the first of the five new hotels in Juniper's pipeline.