From Working As A Clerk To Buying The Same Hotel: The Story Of Oberoi Group.
Be it the billionaire owners of East India Hotels or the luxurious Oberoi Hotels, the name Oberoi means luxury and wealth today. But, the beginning was not so shiny and luxurious. The founder of the Oberoi group Mohan Singh Oberoi was born into a very poor family in modern-day Pakistan in 1898.
Mohan Singh Oberoi completed his primary education and started to work to support his family. Nothing was going according to his plan. With just ₹25 in his pocket, he decided to leave his home and try his luck somewhere else. Destiny brought him to Shimla. In 1920, he joined as a front office clerk in Cecil Hotel in Shimla.
Mohan Singh Oberoi didn’t limit him to his front desk work. Soon he mastered the other operations of the hotel industry. Impressed with his skills and attitude, the owner of the Cecil Hotel offered him a partnership in a new hotel they were planning to buy in 1930. When the owner decided to sell both hotels in 1934, Mr Oberoi mortgaged his wife’s jewellery and properties to buy the same hotel in which he started working as a clerk.
Soon destiny took a turn for good. In 1938, he bought the iconic Grand Hotel of Kolkata. It was one of the most popular hotels in India. With a massive return in his hotel business, Mohan Singh Oberoi acquired a controlling stake in India’s biggest hotel chain Associated Hotels of India (AHI), in 1943.
There was no stopping for Mohan Singh Oberoi and his hotel business. In 1948, he established East India Hotels (EIH). In 1963, the Oberoi Group opened The Oberoi Intercontinental in New Delhi. It was the luxury 5-star hotel of Independent India.
Oberoi Group has more than 31 luxury hotels and resorts in India and abroad. Oberoi Group also started the trend of heritage hotels in India. At one time, Oberoi Hotels had the privilege of having 85% of its guests as foreign travellers, and contributed significantly to India’s foreign reserve.
Mohan Singh Oberoi is known as the Father of the Indian Hotel Industry. For his contribution to India’s hotel industry, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2001. From a mere beginning as a hotel clerk to owning the same hotel, the life of Mohan Singh Oberoi is a true rag to riches story.
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