Lalit Suri
Chairman & Managing Director, Bharat Hotels Ltd

Mr Lalit Suri, Chairman & Managing Director of Bharat Hotels Limited, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha and President of the Hotel Association of India - is highly regarded amongst the Indian & International community for his dynamism, foresight and forward thinking.

Bharat Hotels, which operates all its hotels under 'The Grand' banner, today, offers seven top- line hotels in the country, all destinations in themselves - Four InterContinental 'The Grand' hotels in New Delhi, Srinagar, Goa & Mumbai and three 'The Grand' hotels in Bangalore, Udaipur & Khajuraho.

Lalit Suri ensured the record completion if the company's first project, the 500-room super deluxe InterContinental The Grand New Delhi.

Lalit Suri is also a Member of Parliament of the Rajya Sabha and was elected unopposed to the Upper House of the Indian Parliament in November 2002.

Mr Suri is the President of Hotel Association of India, a premier Hotel body of the country. He is also a global member of the renowned World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and elected to be the first Chairman of the WTTC India Initiative, from January 2004.

Lalit Suri is the recipient of various excellence awards most recently, on November 11, 2002; he was conferred with the prestigious Global Network Award 2002 at the World Travel Mart, London, for excellence in all fields related to tourism at an impressive ceremony in London.

The group's Srinagar venture is recognised as Mr Suri's initiative to develop tourism is presently troubled Jammu & Kashmir State with the sole purpose of assisting the Government in its socio-economic development, offering employment and promoting tourism. He is, in fact, the first and thus far the only entrepreneur to take such an initiative in Jammu & Kashmir. His efforts have also been officially acknowledged by the Government of Jammu & Kashmir.

On July 11, 2000, Mrs Hilary Rodham Clinton, the first lady of the USA conferred him with the prestigious award for outstanding accomplishments in business and leadership at the International Millennium Convention in New York. He is also the holder of many other awards.

Born in 1946, Lalit Suri is a resident of New Delhi. He did his schooling at the prestigious St Columbas Delhi & St George's School, Mussoorie and obtained an Honours Degree in Commerce from the renowned Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University. He has also done a 2 year specialization in Automobile Engineering with Vauxhall Motors, England.