Leela Group is planning to invest around Rs.2,000 crore in India over the next three years for developing six new properties and upgrading the existing ones, besides strengthening the brand globally.

The group, which currently operates four luxury hotels, is coming up with six new properties in Gurgaon, Delhi, Udaipur, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune. In the next five years, the group is looking at increasing the number of rooms to around 2,600 from the current 1,100.

The expansion plan in India will start with the opening of the Leela Kempinski, Gurgaon in October 2008 with 319 rooms and 90 serviced residences. A new hotel, Leela Palace Kempinski, with 85 rooms will be unveiled in January 2009, followed by 380 room Leela Palace Kempinski in Chennai in the same year. In 2011, a 186 room hotel will come up in Hyderabad along with a 200 room property in Pune and a 211 room facility in Delhi. The company will also upgrade Leela Kempinski, Mumbai, Leela Kempinski in Kerala and its hotel in Goa.