IHCL Signs 125-Key Greenfield Gateway Hotel in Sambalpur, Expanding Odisha Portfolio

September 18, 2026

Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), India's largest hospitality company, has announced the signing of a new Gateway hotel in Sambalpur, Odisha. The 125-key property will be developed as a greenfield project in partnership with Shamsher Singh Hura of JAS Group.

The announcement marks the signing of an agreement rather than the start of construction. IHCL has confirmed the property’s planned scale and facilities, but has not announced an opening date, construction timeline, project cost, or site area. Following the signing, IHCL’s Odisha portfolio is expected to grow to eight hotels, including three currently under development.

What Hotel Has IHCL Signed in Sambalpur, and How Many Rooms Will It Have?

The property, to be branded Gateway Sambalpur, will have 125 rooms once completed. It extends IHCL's Gateway brand, the company's upscale, lifestyle-oriented hotel segment positioned for both business and leisure travellers, into Western Odisha for the first time. The project is being developed jointly with Shamsher Singh Hura, who promotes JAS Group, a business that has grown since 2004 from trading and retail into automotive, real estate, hospitality, and lifestyle ventures.

Is the Gateway Sambalpur Hotel a Greenfield Project?

Yes: IHCL has explicitly described the Sambalpur signing as a greenfield project, meaning the hotel will be built on a new site rather than converting or rebranding an existing structure. Beyond confirming this greenfield status, IHCL's announcement does not specify a site location within the city, a land parcel size, or a construction start date, and no groundbreaking ceremony or construction commencement has been reported.

At this stage, the publicly confirmed milestone is the project signing. IHCL has not disclosed a construction commencement date, development schedule or expected opening date in its announcement.

What Facilities Are Planned at the New Gateway Hotel in Sambalpur?

According to IHCL, Gateway Sambalpur is planned to include an all-day dining restaurant, a speciality restaurant and bar, a fully equipped gym, and a swimming pool. For weddings and social events, the hotel is designed to house a banquet space spanning more than 10,000 square feet, along with multiple meeting rooms intended to serve conferences and business gatherings.

This combination of dining, wellness, and event infrastructure reflects a property positioned to serve a broad demand base, business travellers, conference delegates, and wedding or social event guests, rather than a single narrow market segment.

Why is IHCL Expanding Its Presence in Sambalpur?

Suma Venkatesh, Executive Vice President for Real Estate & Development at IHCL, said the company's re-imagined Gateway brand proposition of "authentic local experiences and contemporary comfort resonates strongly with travellers in emerging markets," adding that "Sambalpur has evolved as a key business and economic hub in Odisha, supported by a growing industrial ecosystem, increasing demand for business travel, conferences, weddings and social events."

Shamsher Singh Hura, the project's development partner, said he was "delighted to partner with IHCL to bring the Gateway brand to Sambalpur," noting that "with its growing prominence as a commercial, cultural and tourism destination, Sambalpur is witnessing an increasing demand for quality hospitality." Sambalpur itself sits on the banks of the Mahanadi River and functions as a cultural, educational, and industrial centre in Western Odisha. It is home to leading educational institutions, serves as the headquarters of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited, and sits near the Hirakud Dam and a number of historic temples, giving the city both an established industrial and administrative base and a distinct cultural and tourism dimension.

How is Sambalpur's Industrial and Commercial Growth Influencing Hospitality Demand?

IHCL's own stated rationale for the signing centres on Sambalpur's evolving role as a business and economic hub, citing a growing industrial ecosystem and rising demand for business travel, conferences, weddings, and social events as the specific demand drivers behind the project. Mahanadi Coalfields Limited's headquarters presence in the city anchors a base of corporate and institutional visitor traffic, while the city's proximity to the Hirakud Dam and its historic temples adds a leisure and regional tourism dimension to that underlying commercial demand base.

Together, these factors including industrial administration, business travel, and cultural tourism form the specific demand rationale IHCL, and its development partner have cited for bringing a full-service, upscale Gateway property to a city that has not previously hosted this brand.

How Many Hotels Will IHCL Have in Odisha After the Sambalpur Signing, and What is the Current Development Status?

With the Gateway Sambalpur signing, IHCL's Odisha portfolio is set to reach eight hotels, of which three, including this Sambalpur property, are currently under development rather than already operational. This places Sambalpur within a broader, ongoing expansion of IHCL's footprint across Odisha rather than representing an isolated, one-off entry into the state.

The Gateway Sambalpur signing adds a 125-key greenfield hotel to IHCL's Odisha development pipeline, with planned dining, wellness, meeting and banquet facilities. The project remains at the announced signing stage, with IHCL yet to disclose its construction schedule, opening date or project cost. Future project updates will provide greater clarity on the development and execution timeline.

IMARC Engineering’s Perspective

The Gateway Sambalpur signing highlights how hospitality development is extending into regional business and industrial centres where demand is supported by a combination of corporate travel, conferences, social events and tourism.

From an engineering and project-delivery perspective, a greenfield hotel of this scale requires coordinated planning across architectural and structural design, MEP systems, utilities, fire and life-safety requirements, banquet and food-service infrastructure, fit-out, procurement, construction sequencing and commissioning. These requirements become particularly important for properties combining guestrooms with restaurants, large event spaces, meeting facilities, wellness amenities and other operational areas.

As the project progresses beyond the signing stage, detailed site planning, engineering design, cost and schedule control, construction coordination and commissioning will be important components of translating the announced hotel concept into an operational property.