Power List 2017, Ranjit Batra, President, hospitality management, Panchshil Realty

He is an hotelier masquerading as a developer, I often joke with him. Ranjit Batra, president, hospitality management, Panchshil Realty, could easily be mistaken to be on the other side of the fence the moment he walks into one of his hotels. And not surprisingly so, as Batra started his early career working with the Oberoi Group of Hotels in India and trained in Monteux and Zurich, Switzerland. Graduating first from the Institute Hotelier, Cesar Ritz, Switzerland, he went on to join the prestigious Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development (OCLD) in New Delhi.
Engage him in a conversation on the hospitality industry and it will not take you much time to conclude that he is a true-blue hotelier at heart. From F&B to engineering to rooms division, there is little that he does not know or is not an authority on. Clearly, Batra is one asset the owners can’t do without. Presently engaged in asset management, strategic planning, risk management, acquisitions, hotel design and fit outs, financial planning and control processes, he ensures the best return on investment.
Perhaps his greatest quality, according to industry insiders, is that he knows how to move the market from the ordinary to the extra-ordinary. Not for him the standard growth rates or the “old” ways of doing business. If Panchshil Realty is changing the game in the hospitality sector in Pune and shifting focus from serviced residences to luxury hotels, it is largely because of Batra’s efforts. He is right there, driving this change.
His job title may not be doing full justice to the sterling work that he is doing perhaps because no title can clearly capture the wide range of things that he is juggling at the same time. Among others, his strategic leadership has seen the completion of six ground-breaking projects and he is credited for bringing to life the second Rit-Carlton in India. In between all these, Batra has also ensured the completion of numerous projects in the international market.
Ask him what accounts for his success, and pat comes his reply. “I believe that this success is a result of being a hands-on partner and the key lies in what I call ‘active ownership,’ which means dedicated involvement at all stages from pre-launch to post-operations,” he explains. So, whether it is the recent conversion of Oakwood Premier to Marriott Suites or the launch of the WTC, F&B at Pavilion Mall, each project that Panchshil Realty has rolled under him has his distinct stamp on it, going on to become market leaders in their respective category.
While Batra has a flexible approach to most things, revenues or profitability is a no-compromise area for him. The result is clearly reflected in the RevPAR growth rate. While the upscale segment within the Pune market will witness a RevPAR growth of 6.5 percent on average by year end as compared to 2014, Panchshil’s portfolio comprising 966 keys (including the JW Marriott Pune, Marriott Suites Pune, Courtyard by Marriott Pune Hinjewadi, Double Tree by Hilton Pune and Oakwood Residence Naylor Road) is expected to grow by 8.1 percent. Nearly 85 percent of the business in the market comprises the corporate segment (negotiated and non-negotiated) and has grown by 8 percent on average in each year, while the remaining 15 percent is contributed by MICE and other smaller segments, which have remained constant year over year. The steady growth in Panchshil’s portfolio has consistently earned it a premium of nearly 80 percent in market share on average within the upscale segment in Pune.
So what’s next for Batra? Even though his plate appears full he is already planning and strategising, among others, to create hotels in leisure destinations in a guest-invest model. Knowing his propensity to get things off the ground, we won’t be surprised if Batra rolls this one out too, sooner rather than later.
By Shafquat Ali