Kolkata, March 6 (IANS): France-based hospitality chain Louvre Hotels Tuesday said it would set up 50 hotels in India by the end of 2015.

"Right now we are operating nine hotels in India and looking at adding 10 more by the end of this year so at the end of 2012 we will have 20 hotels operating in the country. We plan to add 10 to 12 hotels each year from there on. So our target is 50 hotels in 2015," the group's managing director (South Asia) V.J. Singh said here.

Singh was in the city for the opening of the group's first hotel in eastern India in association with Shiraz Hotels.

"The 50 hotels we plan to establish here will mostly be through management contract that is to say we will provide the brand and the expertise while our partners will own them. However we have plans to make direct invest in 25 more hotels here," Singh added.

An affiliate of the Groupe du Louvre, owned by the Starwood Capital Group private equity firm, the group currently has a portfolio of seven brands, ranging from one to five stars.

After forging a strategic alliance with Golden Tulip Hospitality Group, Louvre Hotels Group has become the 8th largest hotel chain in the world, with more than 1,000 hotels in 42 countries.

Singh said the group was also mulling setting up hotels in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka all through management contract by the end of 2012.