KOLKATA, India, December 24, 2009 /PRNewswire/ -- ITC's new luxury hotel in Bengaluru, the ITC Hotel Royal Gardenia was conferred the highest rating for green buildings in the world - the LEED India Platinum Rating. This recognition makes it the world's largest platinum rated hotel and is yet another manifestation of ITC's leadership in Sustainability Practices. ITC is the only company in the world to be carbon positive, water positive and solid waste recycling positive.

The LEED Platinum Rating for the ITC Hotel is one more green milestone close on the heels of the ITC Green Centre in Gurgaon which was the world's first largest green building. This Centre was chosen by the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to announce her vision on Indo-US collaboration on Climate Change during her last visit to India. After a tour of the building she called it the "Monument to the Future". ITC's exemplary commitment to green practices have also enabled its hotel in Kolkata - the ITC Hotel Sonar - to be the only hotel in the world to earn carbon credits. In keeping with the ITC Commitment to the "Triple Bottomline" philosophy, ITC Hotels has aspired to be an 'exemplar' in the service sector and truly provides leadership to positive environmental action in a sustainable manner.

The ITC Royal Gardenia is an inclusive blend of contemporary design and international green practices, a beacon in a bustling urban environment. Built on the ethos of "Responsible Luxury" the hotel has adopted contemporary 'Green Practices' that harness the element of nature in an inspired setting to deliver unique guest experiences.

According to Chief Executive, ITC Hotels Division, Nakul Anand, "The ITC Royal Gardenia exemplifies ITC's vision and is perhaps the perfect example of finding common rhythm between manmade and natural environment. The challenge was to see how luxury and responsibility could be in harmony together. Thus a series of sustainable measures and practices were embraced to ensure that elements of nature were effectively harnessed at every level inside the luxury hotel."

The hotel has utilised innovation, cutting edge technology and design integration to earn new benchmarks in energy efficiency, water efficiency and low carbon techniques, and is a model of environmental stewardship.

The LEED-India Rating System encourages and facilitates the development of more sustainable buildings for innovation in design and environment practices.