Oberoi president Kapil Chopra quits to become full time entrepreneur

Hotelier PRS Oberoi is believed to have accepted the resignation of the Oberoi Group President Kapil Chopra, who despite not being a Oberoi family member is often referred to as “the insider”.

The 89 year old veteran hotelier and a known perfectionist PRS Oberoi, wrote to all employees on December 30 informing them of Kapil Chopra’s decision to move on from the group to start an entrepreneurial journey.

Mr Oberoi recalls his first encounter with Chopra in that lengthy letter—at a job interview in 1994 for the post of a management trainee. Mr Oberoi writes he realised at that interview itself that Chopra would be a valuable resource to the company.


He then goes on to praise Chopra’s other feats including beating competition in the revenue earned per average room, and strategic decisions taken by Chopra over the years to increase the hotel group’s profitability.

Interestingly, Mr Oberoi also writes about Chopra wanting to first leave the company in April 2017 to start his entrepreneurial journey, and how he had convinced him to stay on till a transition plan was in place. It is believed Chopra was asked to stay on till the Oberoi Delhi relaunches, and also to stabilise operations post the launch.

Chopra is known to be an investor in startups and is also the Chairman Of the board for EazyDiner. EazyDiner recently raised a Series B round at a valuation of over 250 crores. Its an app that lets you book reservations for dining out in restaurants and hotels in India and Dubai.

Although details on Chopra’s new venture are not out yet, people are speculating that it could be in the luxury hotel space as that is also what Chopra’s expertise is. It was after all in his tenure as Oberoi Group President that the hotel chain recorded its highest growth in revenue.

Manav Thadani, Chairman, HVS Asia Pacific and one of the best known experts on Indian hospitality tells ET Now, “Kapil is an extraordinarily good hotelier who has groomed some amazing new leaders in the business. His eye for details and focus on the financial matters makes him a one of a kind Hoteliers. He will succeed wherever or whatever he does next.”