Leela Chairman Receives Environmental Award

Indian Hotelier Honored for Good "Green" Works

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. June 11, 2010

MUMBAI, India - June 9, 2010 - The chairman of one of India's leading luxury hotel groups, Capt. C. P. Krishnan Nair, received one of the country's most prestigious environmental awards, fittingly on World Environment Day, June 5. The Environment Cell of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee conferred on Capt. Nair, the Chairman of The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts, the Bharat Ratna Rajiv Gandhi Environment Award for his exemplary work in protecting the environment. The award was presented by Hon'ble Shri. Ashokrao Chavan, Chief Minister of Maharashtra. (Mumbai is the capital of the state.)

While every Leela property is a welcoming oasis, Capt. Nair's concern for the environment extends well beyond the confines of the hotels' premises. He is responsible for converting hundreds of adjacent acres into verdant havens. Deploying a major part of his resources, he personally supervises the landscaping and planting of exotic and rare plants in all the Leela hotels. And like the true pioneer that he is, the 87-year old hotelier did it years before other hotels in the country began to hop on the environment “bandwagon!”

Addressing the gathering on World Environment Day, Hon'ble Shri Ashokrao Chavan, Chief Minister of Maharashtra stressed that all companies, industries, municipal councils and corporations must raise their awareness about the environment and actively participate in cleaning up the state. He was pleased that companies like The Leela were implementing green initiatives in the country.

Capt. Nair has replaced eyesores with gardens around The Leela Kempinski Mumbai in co-operation with the International Airports Authority of India, the Mumbai Municipal Corporation and other civic organizations. Road dividers and pavements have been transformed into islands of lush greenery by his green wand. In fact, signs reading “Gardens by The Leela” now dot several approach roads to Mumbai's international and domestic airports. Capt. Nair's environment initiatives at two of Mumbai's municipalities: Sahar (98.25 acres) and Santa Cruz (27.75 acres) have even helped change the attitudes of the city's less fortunate inhabitants, who have taken to growing shrubs and plants around their humble dwellings.

What is so inspiring about his efforts is that Capt. Nair has undertaken the greening and beautification of his surroundings not only because of his concern for the environment, but in the purest tradition of respect for Mother Nature. His wife, Leela Nair, whose name he has immortalized in the beautiful hotels he has built, takes special care to plant and nurture herbs that are used in salads, curries and as dressings for snacks and savories on The Leela's menus. Referring to all the coconut trees (which yield almost 30,000 coconuts), flowering trees and fruit-bearing trees that he has given to the citizens of Mumbai, he says quite simply: “Those gardens belong to them now. I only planted them. They are the owners and the ones who should enjoy them.”

About Hotel Leelaventure Limited:
Hotel Leelaventure Ltd. operates The Leela Palaces, Hotels & Resorts in Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, Kovalam (Kerala), Gurgaon and Udaipur. Located in key business and leisure destinations, and charting a pan-India presence, The Leela is a blend of aesthetic sensibility, modern amenities and truly reflects the essence of India. New hotels will soon open in New Delhi (2010) and Chennai (2011); with plans to develop hotels in Agra, Hyderabad, Pune and Lake Ashtamudi in Kerala. The group has marketing alliances with Germany-based Kempinski (Hoteliers since 1897); US-based Preferred Hotel Group and are members of Global Hotel Alliance based in Geneva, Switzerland. For further information, please visit www.theleela.com. For high-resolution images, please visit: www.leonardo.com/theleela. Login: Leela; password: corpcom.