indian hotels company limited trading name taj hotels resorts and palaces type public company traded as bse 500850 nse indhotel isin ine053a01029 industry hotels founded 1881 ; 135 years ago 1881 founder jamsetji tata headquarters oxford house 15 17 n. f. road apollo bunder mumbai maharashtra india key people rakesh sarna md & ceo revenue 1 924.79 crore us 290 million 1 2 2012 13 operating income 453.34 crore us 67 million 1 2 2012 13 profit 1 924.79 crore us 290 million 1 2 2012 13 total assets 6 766.37 million us 100 million 2013 14 parent tata group website www.tajhotels.com indian hotels company limited ihcl 3 branded as taj hotels resorts and palaces 4 is a chain of hotels and resorts headquartered at oxford house in mumbai 5 which was incorporated by the founder of the tata group jamsetji tata in the year 1903 . 6 7 this company is a part of the tata group one of india s largest business conglomerates . as of 2015 taj group operates 108 hotels across india and 17 hotels in the uk usa africa maldives malaysia bhutan sri lanka and the middle east 7 and employed over 13000 people in the year 2010 . 5 8 taj group also owns a few private islands . citation needed contents 1 history 2 hospitality brands 3 other ventures 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit jamsetji nusserwanji tata 1839 1904 taj hotel logo displayed on top of taj samundra in colombo . jamsetji nusserwanji tata founder of the tata group opened the taj mahal palace a hotel in mumbai formerly called bombay overlooking the arabian sea on 16 december 1903 . it was the first taj property and the first taj hotel . there are several anecdotal stories about why tata opened the taj hotel . according to a story he decided to open the hotel after an incident involving racial discrimination at the watson s hotel in mumbai where he was refused entry as the hotel permitted only europeans . 9 hotels which accepted only european guests were very common across british india then but it seems far too petty a reason to fire a man of the calibre of jamsetji tata . according to another story he opened the hotel when one of his friends expressed his disgust about the hotels which were present in bombay then . but a more plausible reason was advanced by lovat fraser a close friend of the tata and one of the early directors of the ihcl group that the idea had long been in his mind and that he had made a study on the subject . he did not have any desire to own a hotel but he wanted to attract people to india and to improve bombay . it is said that jamsetji tata had travelled to places like london paris berlin and d sseldorf to arrange for materials and pieces of art furniture and interior artefacts for his hotel . 10 the taj group has since then developed and flourished under the tata group . the taj mahal palace in mumbai is the first hotel of taj opened in the year 1903 in 1974 the group opened india s first international five star deluxe beach resort the fort aguada beach resort in goa . in 1970s the taj group also began its business in metropolitan hotels opening the five star deluxe hotel taj coromandel in chennai in 1974 acquiring an equity interest and operating contract for the taj president now vivanta by taj president a business hotel in mumbai in 1977 and also opening the taj mahal hotel in delhi in 1978 . the group has been converting royal palaces in india into luxury hotels since the 1970s . the first palace to be converted into a taj luxury hotel was the lake palace in udaipur in 1971 . other examples include the rambagh palace in jaipur umaid bhawan palace in jodhpur falaknuma palace in hyderabad and nadesar palace in varanasi . a part of the umaid bhawan palace in jodhpur is a taj luxury hotel and it is a member of the leading hotels of the world in 1980 the taj group opened its first hotel outside india the taj sheba hotel in sana a in yemen and in the late 1980s acquired interests in the st. james court hotel now comprising taj 51 buckingham gate suites and residences and st. james court a taj hotel in london . in 1984 the taj group acquired under a license agreement each of the taj west end in bangalore taj connemara now vivanta by taj connemara in chennai and savoy hotel in ooty . with the opening of the taj west end in bangalore the taj group made its foray into bangalore . the five star deluxe hotel taj bengal in kolkata was opened in the year 1989 and with this the taj group became the only hotel chain in india with a presence in the six major metropolitan cities of india namely mumbai delhi kolkata bangalore hyderabad and chennai . concurrently with the expansion of its luxury hotel chain in the major metropolitan cities the taj group also expanded its business hotels division in the major metropolitan and large secondary cities in india . during the 1990s the taj group continued to expand its geographic and market coverage in india . it developed specialized operations such as wildlife lodges and consolidated its position in established markets through the upgrading of existing properties and development of new properties . taj also set up the taj kerala hotels and resorts limited in the early 1990s along with the kerala tourism development corporation . 11 twelve hotels of the taj group are members of the leading hotels of the world . 12 the following table is a list of those twelve hotels taj samudra hotel in colombo . continent country town city location hotel name africa south africa cape town taj cape town africa zambia lusaka taj pamodzi 13 asia india bangalore the taj west end gwalior usha kiran palace hyderabad taj falaknuma palace jaipur rambagh palace jodhpur umaid bhawan palace kolkata taj bengal 14 mumbai the taj mahal palace new delhi the taj mahal hotel maldives mal atoll south taj exotica resort & spa sri lanka colombo taj samudra 15 north america usa boston taj boston new york city the pierre san francisco taj campton place two hotels of the taj group namely rambagh palace in jaipur and the taj mahal palace in mumbai were ranked in 2013 by cond nast traveler among the top 100 hotels and resorts in the world . 16 in late 2013 the indian traveller magazine ranked taj lake palace in udaipur and taj exotica resort & spa in maldives on ranks 34 and 98 respectively in the list of 100 best hotels & resorts . 17 cond nast traveler also ranked the taj mahal palace in mumbai on number 13 in the list of gold standard hotels in 2014 . 18 hospitality brands edit logo of the gateway hotels and resorts . logo of vivanta by taj logo of the ginger hotels since the late 2000s the taj hotels group started organising its hotels into different brands in a market segmentation strategy . taj taj luxury the luxury brand is the erstwhile generic brand of the taj hotels resorts and palaces . these hotels cover business destinations landmarks palaces resorts and forest destinations . most of taj s oldest and most prestigious hotels have been retained under this brand . taj exotica it is the resort and spa brand of taj hotels . taj safaris the wildlife lodges amidst the indian national parks and national parks come under this brand label . the brand has modelled on the concept of sustainable eco tourism . vivanta by taj vivanta is a contemporary luxury hotel brand . the brand caters to an upscale market and is positioned a step below the flagship taj brand . vivanta hotels are found business and vacation destinations as well . the gateway hotels & resorts gateway is a mid market brand positioned below the vivanta . it contains properties in business and vacation destinations like vivanta does . the gateway hotel brand was created by taj in its earlier market segmentation effort and has been retained and expanded in the current wave of brand segmentation . taj luxury residences other ventures edit institute of hotel management aurangabad ihcl has been operating the institute of hotel management at aurangabad since 1993 . the institute offers a four year degree designed with the help of faculty from the hospitality background with an affiliation to the university of huddersfield in the united kingdom . jiva spa it is the spa brand of the ihcl group and consists of the spas at selected hotels of the ihcl group . taj air ihcl operates taj air an air charter company . taj khazana it is a chain of luxury lifestyle stores located across india in cities such as mumbai delhi kolkata bangalore hyderabad chennai and goa in select taj hotels . it is a boutique which showcases and stocks artefacts collectibles apparels garments and accessories created by indian craftsmen and designers . it has been reviving of the traditional works of indian artisans since its inception . taj sats taj sats air catering ltd is the largest airline catering service in south asia as a joint venture of ihcl with sats . taj yachts the ihcl group also operates taj yachts and has two three bedroom luxury yachts . see also edit mumbai portal companies portal ginger hotels tajsats the gateway hotels & resorts references edit a b c http www.moneycontrol.com financials indianhotelscompany profit loss ihc ihc a b c http www.tajhotels.com corporate resources pdf about us investor relations financial reports annual reports taj % 20ar % 202013 14 % 20for % 20web.pdf home . taj hotels . retrieved 14 november 2012 . 2012 the indian hotels company limited all rights reserved . company introduction . taj hotels . retrieved 14 november 2012 . a b taj hotels resorts & palaces private company information businessweek . bloomberg businessweek . retrieved 15 september 2010 . contact information select corporate office . taj hotels . retrieved 14 november 2012 . taj hotels resorts and palaces oxford house 15 17 n.f. road apollo bunder mumbai 400 001 india a b the indian hotels company ihcl . tata.co.in . tata group . retrieved 6 september 2014 . 21 jun 2010 12.35 am ist et bureau 21 june 2010 . crowne plaza dow corning & taj hotels resorts and palaces the economic times . the economic times . retrieved 15 september 2010 . cs1 maint multiple names authors list link from parsee priests to profits say hello to tata asia world . the independent . 1 february 2007 . retrieved 15 september 2010 . http www.hotelassociationofindia.com hj oct dec 09 final.pdf http www.tajhotels.com about taj company information history of taj.html hotel list . lhw.com . leading hotels of the world . retrieved 6 september 2014 . http www.tajhotels.com business taj pamodzi lusaka rooms.html http www.tajhotels.com luxury city hotels taj bengal kolkata overview.html taj samudra colombo best ocean view luxury hotel . retrieved 17 april 2016 . top 100 hotels & resorts in the world . cntraveler.com . 15 october 2013 . retrieved 8 september 2014 . 100 best hotels & resorts . internationaltravellermag.com . 7 december 2013 . retrieved 8 september 2014 . gold standard hotels 2014 . cntraveller.com . retrieved 8 september 2014 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to taj hotels resorts and palaces . official website of taj hotels resorts & palaces official website of st. james court a taj hotel london official website of taj 51 bucklingham gate suites and residences london v t e tata group divisions and subsidiaries crom the indian hotels company gateway ginger taj hotels resorts and palaces