FRENCH hotel company Accor is planning to dramatically expand its presence in India. Accor – which currently has eight hotels in India – will increase its portfolio to 90 by 2018.

Accor’s hotel brands in India include Novotel, Ibis and Mercury. The company has committed $150m to its plans and contracts are signed for 60 hotels. CEO Gilles Pelisson expects 21 hotels to open within the next two years.

‘India today is one of the world's most exciting growth markets with strong demand across all segments,’ he said. ‘We are in great expansion mode in India. We are going to invest on building hotels in the mid-scale and economy segment.’