In a first of its kind initiative by any hotel chain in India, the Park Hotels today said it would switch off lights at all their properties across India to observe Earth Hour tomorrow night.

Earth Hour would also be observed in the other properties owned by the Kolkata-based Apeejay Surrendra group which runs the luxury hotel chain like the Oxford Bookstores, real estate properties, two schools and 50,000 acres of tea plantations area in Assam. Earth Hour is an initiative by the international wildlife and international body WWF where citizens and organisations around the globe show their support for action on climate change by turning off lights for one hour from 8.30 pm.

A company spokesperson told PTI that all the twelve Park Hotels located in various cities will participate in the Earth Hour and will switch off non-essential lights and internally will switch to minimal lighting. Special lights and smoke-free candles will be placed in the rooms to be used in emergency situation.

Candlelight dinners are being organised in the restaurants and ‘Earth cocktail’ served at bars to create a buzz and to excite the guests towards the cause. According to a statement by the company, the total units of energy saved at their hotels will be 5000 KW for that one hour while that for real estate properties will be 2000 KW.

Last year, Earth Hour reached out to over a billion people with a little over 6 million Indians participating in this global show of support. Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has been appointed as the national brand ambassador of the cause.