M Vara Prasad, Man Behind Success Of SVM Grand Group

In the hospitality business, there are three key principles one should practice – offering high quality food, providing top-notch service and top-class maintenance. I religiously practice all three principles. That’s the secret of my success - Meka Vara Prasad, Managing Director, SVM Grand Group of Hotels, Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Many consider the hospitality sector to be highly competitive. More so is the hotel business which forms a key part of the hospitality sector. But Meka Vara Prasad doesn’t think so. He established 11 highly successful midsize hotels under SVM Grand brand across Hyderabad in the last one decade.

Starting with his first Hotel SVM Grand in Koti in February 2015 with an investment of Rs2 crore and around 40 employees, he opened second one at Shamshabad and third one in Attapur in the same year. In 2017, the group started its fourth hotel in Medipally near Uppal Bus Depot followed by a bigger hotel near Nagole Metro Station in 2021. This hotel, a popular destination for celebrations and events now, has 80 rooms, 9 banquet halls, a 300-seater restaurant, SVM Wave Pub and other facilities. The hospitality group, which also opened hotels in Banjara Hills, Miyapur, Bachupally, Bowenpally (Dairy Farm Road) and Ramanthapur, now operates 11 hotels with a total inventory of 300 rooms and 1,800 employees.

“In our hotels, we provide all facilities including rooms, restaurants, banquet halls, bars, etc. We offer best quality services, best food and world class ambience at affordable prices. We have banquet halls for all occasions and events with guest capacity ranging from 50 to 1,000 people,” Meka Vara Prasad, Managing Director, SVM Grand Group of Hotels, told Bizz Buzz. According to him, the group offers three categories of rooms - Standard, Executive and Suites. Daily tariff for the rooms ranges from Rs2,500 to Rs4,000. Its restaurants offer all types of cuisines. During 2023-24 financial year, the group did a total business of Rs70 crore. It is aiming at Rs90 crore turnover in the current financial year and Rs100 crore in the next financial year. For further expansion, the group has lined up three new projects including one each at Kompally and Manikonda. These projects are at various stages of development.

“Our new hotel in Kompally will be a four-star facility with 130 rooms and 13 banquet halls, gaming zone, pub, etc. We will open this hotel by the end of this year,” he said. The group will hire 500-600 more people for new hotels.

Vara Prasad said that getting the right manpower is the biggest challenge in this sector. “As there is no local manpower available, we get people from other States like Bihar, Odisha, Chhattisgarh. People from these States account for 80-85 per cent of manpower in the hospitality industry in Hyderabad,” he pointed out.

According to him, for success in the hospitality industry, there are three key principles one should practice – offering high quality food, providing top-notch service and top-class maintenance. “A hotel should give a memorable experience to people who visit it. I religiously practice all three principles. That’s the secret of my success,” said Vara Prasad.