Budget 2024: Hospitality sector companies want the government to provide infrastructure sector status to the hotel sector in the upcoming general budget, which will make investment in new properties more attractive. He says the hotel sector plays a vital role in the country’s growth and should not be classified as ‘luxury’.
Eco-friendly hotels get subsidy
Additionally, the industry wants the government to consider providing incentives in the form of tax exemptions or subsidies to the hospitality sector to adopt sustainable and eco-friendly practices. Hospitality sector companies want the government to focus on accelerating the tourism agenda in the upcoming budget as this is a big opportunity to make the hospitality sector of the country an important ‘engine’ of contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and a means of employment generation. .
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These are the main demands
“The sector is burdened with high taxation,” said KB Kachru, president of the Hotel Association of India (HAI). Apart from this, the process of licensing, approval and compliance is also very expensive. The cost of operating a hotel is very high.” He said that for these reasons investment in hotels becomes risky.
Kachru said there is a need to make hotel investment more attractive with better investment rates and promote ease of doing business. He further said that in the upcoming general budget there should be a change in the policy of classifying hotels as luxury, exclusive or ‘disadvantage’ products. He said that this is an opportunity to leverage the potential of the hospitality sector to achieve the country’s Vision-2047.
Kachru said HAI’s key policy recommendation for the Budget is that the government give infrastructure status to the hotel sector. Expressing similar views, Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Indian Hotels Company Limited, said, “Giving infrastructure status to the area will enable better investment. With this, the sector will be able to make a significant contribution in making the country the world’s third largest economy by 2027.
