Ten Holiday Inn Express hotels will be developed in southern India in the coming years after a deal between IHG and Indian property developer Brigade Group. These ten hotels will be owned by Brigade Group and managed by IHG. IHG and Brigade Group are currently in partnership for the Holiday Inn Tidel Park in Chennai, scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2015. The first two hotels under the new deal are set to open their doors in 2017 in Bangalore.IHG currently has 14 establishments in the country with 57 in the pipeline, including 50 under the Holiday Inn or Holiday Inn Express brands. According to Douglas Martell, IHG's vice president operations South West Asia, India's middle class is quickly expanding thus fueling demands for these establishments."We have no doubt the business model of the brand will provide the Brigade Group with good returns on investment per hotel, and we are delighted to have this opportunity to extend our relationship with the group and expand the brand's presence in India", Martell says of the deal.