Oyo to invest Rs 1,400 cr in India, Nepal markets to enhance infrastructure, technology; announces new brand

New Delhi: Hospitality firm Oyo will invest Rs 1,400 crore in India and Nepal markets in 2019 as part of efforts to increase infrastructure, strengthen technology and internal capability, it said on Tuesday. The company also announced the launch of a new brand, Collection O hotels, to its existing portfolio of the budget-to-mid-segment hotel chain brands. “Rs 1,400 crore will go in capex, technology and leadership,” Oyo India and South Asia CEO Aditya Ghosh told reporters here. [caption id=“attachment_6121591” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. News 18[/caption] The idea is to further deepen and widen presence across India while focusing on aggressive capacity building to bring the choice of an Oyo hotel to every corner of the country, he added. The company is currently present in over 259 cities in India with over 8,700 buildings (hotels and homes) and more than 173,000 rooms. “As we expand our presence in the market, consistency of quality is key. As a customer first company, we are heavily invested in ensuring customer responsiveness,” he added. Oyo also launched an in-app SoS button for emergency assistance with options to contact the Oyo safety response team as well as local law enforcement authorities. When asked whether the Rs 1,400 crore investment for India and Nepal will come from the $1 billion funds raised by the company, Ghosh replied in the affirmative. Commenting on the plans of the company going forward, Oyo founder and group CEO Ritesh Agarwal said: “With a strong balance sheet, today we can go to more places than ever, introduce new categories, invest in our assets, while maintaining our high-quality standards, without raising any further capital.” The company is also narrowing its losses as a percentage of realised value (Oyo Hotels’ sales run rate) year-on-year from 44.5 percent in 2016-17 to 20.3 percent in 2017-18 and 10 percent in 2018-19, he added. “We are committing over Rs 1,400 crore for technology investments, renovation, and managing investments for the calendar year, and will provide more, if needed, to help the team ensure continued economically efficient growth,” Agarwal said. Apart from the home markets of India and China, the company is also focusing on South East Asia and Middle East as key markets for the company, he added. Oyo is currently present in more than 500 cities across 10 countries — India, China, Malaysia, Nepal, the UK, UAE, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, and more recently Japan.