Accordingly from a billing clerk at Shimla's The Cecil hotel earning INR 50 a month to the founder of luxury hotel group like Oberoi , Mohan Singh ‘Oberoi’s’ journey seems amazing. Long before India woke up to the potential of hospitality and tourism, one man had a dream. Meanwhile it began in Rawalpindi, where a young teenager would gaze in awe at Hotel Flashmans, and culminated with the creation of a multinational group, spanning 35 hotels in seven countries. Furthermore Rai Bahadur Mohan Singh Oberoi, born on August 15, 1898, lived through the upheavals and achievements of the 20th Century and his own life was just as eventful and dramatic.
Reportedly Mohan Singh Oberoi was often described as the grand old man of the Indian hospitality industry. Further it would, perhaps, be equally appropriate to say he was one of its progenitors and was, after all, the first Indian to run a hotel chain in the country. Apparently the first hotel Oberoi had ever seen in his life. In 1969, he started his first international venture, The Soaltee Oberoi in Nepal. Now the group today has properties in Melbourne, Bali, Colombo, Mauritius, Cairo, and Budapest, among others.
Moreover Oberoi was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1962 and 1972, to the Lok Sabha in 1968, and received the Padma Bhushan in 2001. Perhaps news week named him one of its "Elite Winners of 1978" for significant contributions to the world of business. Asked what motivated him, Oberoi replied: "The idea was never merely to make money. The compulsion was to think big, always to offer the best."
