Thai hotel group Dusit International is fast tracking its expansion across India with the opening of five hotels and resorts in New Delhi, Jaipur, Rishikesh, and Goa by 2013.

The openings include the group’s first-ever Dusit Devarana, a luxury spin-off brand, as well as the first dusitD2 hotel outside Thailand.

The first hotel, Dusit Devarana New Delhi, is scheduled to open in May 2010. It will be the first luxury hotel in Dusit’s India portfolio with only 78 luxury rooms, located near the city centre of New Delhi.

“India has always been a key market for us, and we are confident that our new hotels and resorts opening in India will quickly establish itself as one of the leading hotels in the city,” said Octavio Gamarra, Senior Vice President of Dusit International.

“2010 will be a milestone for Dusit International with the opening of the two Indian properties, Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Samui, and even more soon to be announced. The future has never been brighter,” he added.

The group has entered into a joint venture agreement with Bird Hospitality Services, a subsidiary of Indian Conglomerate the Bird Group, to carry out the construction. As part of its India expansion, Dusit has appoints Harsh Varma as the Regional Vice President to administer the joint venture. The two leading corporations aim to stimulate India’s hotel industry with Thai hospitality and Indian innovation.

“The Bird-Dusit Joint Venture is looking to bring the best in Asian hospitality to India before the Commonwealth Games in 2010 to meet some of the shortage in rooms that is anticipated before this second largest sporting event in the world.

The appointment of Mr. Varma is the first step in building an exceptional team for our hospitality venture and we expect the team to grow to more than 200 people by the time we launch our first two properties next year,” said Mr. Ankur Bhatia, Executive Director, Bird Group.