Strategies For Success

With The LaLit New Delhi as an exemplary case in point, U V Krishna Mohan Rao, Chief Executive, UVK Susnomics Engineering, talks about accelerating sustainability through energy efficiency in the hotel sector.

Energy generation, transmission and utilisation, all have a direct bearing on the environment. That’s the key issue in relation to sustainability. Today, in any business activity, one cannot talk financial numbers in isolation without considering sustainability. With energy constituting the second largest cost after payroll, the Indian hotel industry needs to practice sustainability internally, and ultimately carry along the customers as well to participate. During the current decade, the industry has been making good strides in energy management — wide scale acceptance of LED across different categories of hotels, heat pump replacing expensive fossil fuel-based hot water generation, application of solar for heating and, in some cases, renewable energy-based power generation are all good examples.

Sustainability is a key agenda of The LaLit Group, a leading privately owned domestic brand in India engaged in the business of operating and managing luxury hotels, palaces and resorts, representing both the leisure and business segments. The dozen hotels in the Group account for over 2,250 rooms spread across 11 locations. The company places its policies on sustainability as a priority, with constant support from the top management for continual improvements across the group. To ensure that the results are consistent, the top management at the corporate office level and at the individual hotel level are engaged in a structured drive for sustainability. Within such a plan, the energy-efficiency drive is central to sustainability management in the Group and certain conscious decisions have been taken by The LaLit, amongst a wide range of sustainability avenues.