In the bustling cities of early 2000s India, the hospitality market looked like a story of extremes. Five-star luxury hotels like the Taj and Oberoi catered to the elite, charging anywhere between ₹15,000 and ₹25,000 a night. On the other end of the spectrum, budget lodges offered rooms for ₹1,000, often dingy, unhygienic, and stripped of dignity. For the millions of Indians in between, business travelers, young professionals, and middle-class families, there was almost nothing.
It was into this void that Patu (Patanjali) Keswani stepped. A man who had already lived the corporate dream, IIT Delhi graduate, IIM Calcutta MBA, senior Tata executive, and later, a high-flying consultant with a crore-plus salary at A.T. Kearney. By 39, he had everything society defined as success, yet he was deeply unfulfilled.
What he built next wasn’t just another hotel chain. It was a company worth over ₹10,000 crore that pioneered the mid-market hotel segment in India and became a global case study in how businesses can embed inclusion at their core.
“I had reached a stage where I asked myself, is this what I want to do for the rest of my life? The answer was no. I wanted to build something that gave people dignity at the right price.”
Born in 1959, Patanjali “Patu” Keswani grew up in a modest middle-class family. His early life was defined by discipline, education, and the idea that hard work could change the trajectory of one’s future. These values stayed with him as he cracked one of India’s toughest academic paths, first IIT Delhi in Electrical Engineering, then IIM Calcutta for his MBA.
Fresh out of IIM in 1983, Keswani joined the prestigious Tata Administrative Services (TAS). For 17 years, he served across various Tata companies, most notably the Taj Group of Hotels, where he rose to Senior Vice President. It was here that he developed a deep understanding of the hospitality industry — the art of service, the nuances of customer expectations, and the operational backbone required to run a successful hotel.
By the late 1990s, Keswani sought new challenges and joined A.T. Kearney, the global consulting giant. With international projects, a handsome salary, and the recognition of being among India’s most successful professionals, he seemed to have “arrived.” But inside, he was restless.
The turning point came not in a dramatic moment, but in the quiet observations during his consulting projects. Time and again, he saw the same pattern, foreign tourists and affluent Indians spending lavishly on luxury hotels, while the growing middle-class workforce was left with substandard budget options.There was no decent mid-tier offering. For a country that was liberalizing, urbanizing, and producing millions of ambitious professionals, this gap seemed almost absurd.
Keswani realized he had discovered a business opportunity hidden in plain sight. But the bigger realization was personal: his well-paying corporate career did not excite him anymore. What did excite him was the thought of building something from scratch, something with purpose.
So, in 2002, defying family concerns and industry skepticism, he resigned from A.T. Kearney and invested his savings to buy land in Gurgaon. At 39, when most professionals double down on security, Keswani decided to risk it all.
“When you step away from the comfort zone, you discover your true strength. For me, that meant starting again, but on my own terms.”
Keswani’s idea was simple yet powerful: deliver 60% of a five-star experience at 30% of the price. This meant clean rooms, reliable service, safety, and dignity, minus the frills that inflated costs.
In May 2004, the first 49-room Lemon Tree Hotel opened in Gurgaon. To Keswani’s relief, it was profitable from day one, validating his thesis that Indians were ready to pay for value-driven hospitality.
Funding soon followed. In 2006, private equity giant Warburg Pincus invested $75 million in Lemon Tree, giving the company the fuel to scale. Over the next decade, Keswani expanded aggressively into metros and tier-2 cities, carefully balancing asset ownership with management contracts.
The company also adopted a multi-brand strategy to cater to different customer segments:
● Lemon Tree Premier for upscale business travelers
● Red Fox Hotels for economy travelers
● Aurika Hotels & Resorts as its foray into the luxury space
By 2018, Lemon Tree Hotels had grown into India’s largest mid-market chain. Its IPO raised ₹1,600 crore, and the acquisition of Keys Hotels in 2019 further strengthened its footprint.Today, Lemon Tree operates 100+ hotels across 65 cities, with nearly 9,700 rooms and serves over 1.5 million guests annually.
While scale and valuation made Lemon Tree a formidable business, what truly set it apart was its social mission. Keswani embedded inclusivity into the DNA of the company, not as CSR but as business strategy.Starting in 2007, Lemon Tree began systematically hiring persons with disabilities and those from disadvantaged backgrounds under its Opportunity-Deprived Indians (ODI) program. Today, nearly 20% of its 8,000+ workforce come from such groups, including individuals with speech, hearing, or intellectual impairments, orphans, and acid attack survivors.“This is not charity. It is our business model,” says Aradhana Lal, who heads the inclusivity initiative at Lemon Tree.
The impact has been profound. Families of differently-abled employees have shared stories of newfound dignity. Some staff members have been able to marry, buy homes, and achieve milestones once thought impossible.For this, Lemon Tree has been honored with multiple national awards, including the Best Employer of Persons with Disabilities (2011, 2016) and recognition for creating barrier-free workplaces.
On the financial side, Lemon Tree has consistently outperformed industry occupancy averages, at times touching 80% occupancy across its hotels, a testament to strong demand and efficient operations.
Despite his achievements, Keswani remains approachable and grounded. He is known for his sharp intellect, candid humour, and problem-solving approach. Colleagues describe him as a leader who combines rigor with empathy.Beyond work, he enjoys reading and mentoring, often encouraging young professionals to pursue purpose over convention. He is also deeply family-oriented, crediting his upbringing for the values that continue to guide him.
For Keswani, Lemon Tree was never just about filling a business gap. It was about reimagining hospitality as a socially responsible enterprise at scale.
He envisions expanding Lemon Tree into tier-2 and tier-3 cities, pushing inclusive hiring beyond 20%, and scaling Aurika as a serious luxury contender. The company is also pivoting towards more asset-light models, focusing on management contracts to accelerate growth without heavy capital burden.Recently, Keswani transitioned into the role of Executive Chairman, entrusting day-to-day operations to a new leadership team, a sign of a company ready for its next phase.His legacy, however, goes beyond rooms and revenues. It lies in proving that profit and purpose can co-exist, that a hotel can treat both its guests and employees with dignity while creating shareholder value.
Patu Keswani’s journey is the story of a man who walked away from corporate comfort to chase a vision many dismissed. What began as a single 49-room hotel in Gurgaon is today a ₹10,000-crore hospitality empire. More importantly, it is a case study in how inclusion can be a competitive advantage
