Hotelier Lalit Suri dies of heart attack

London, Oct 10: Lalit Suri, the 'uncrowned hotel king' of India and Rajya Sabha member died here this morning following a heart attack.

He was 59 and is survived by his wife Jyotsna and four children.

The Chairman and Managing Director of the Bharat Hotels, who attended a reception last night hosted by the Indian community in honour of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, complained of chest pain.

He was taken to the London University Hospital where he was declared dead.

Born on April 15, 1947 in Rawalpindi (Pakistan), Suri was elected to the Rajya Sabha as an Independent from Uttar Pradesh in 2002.

He joined the family-run Delhi Automobile Ltd in 1971 but he struck gold when the group diversified into hospitality business in 1982 with Suri as its Joint Managing Director.

Suri commissioned his first hotel in the capital in 1988 and went on to become one of the prominent hoteliers in the country having a network of hotels across the country including the flagship InterContinental The Grand in Delhi, and grand hotels at Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, Udaipur and Khajuraho.

Suri was also the owner of the Midday newspaper in Delhi.

An alumunus of Sri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi, Suri also won a number of prestigious awards and has been responsible for pushing a number of policy recommendations on the tourism sector.

UNI