FHRAI Requests FM For Infrastructure Status To The Hospitality Industry

The delegates of Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) attended a pre-budget meeting chaired by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with the Trade and Service Sector representatives. FHRAI put forth to Sitharaman specific requests with special emphasis on granting infrastructure status to the hospitality industry.

Among other critical points, the Association has requested the FM for the continuation of the Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme (EPCGS) for another 10 years and extension on the repayment period under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) of 10 years or based on the loan repayment period of the principal loan.

Currently, hotels built with an investment of Rs.200 crore or more have been accorded infrastructure status under the RBI Infrastructure lending norm criteria. The Association has requested that this threshold be brought down to Rs.10. crore to give a fillip to budget segment hotels. It has also requested for hospitality to be classified as an industry that’s applicable across the country and create a corpus that compensates States for any notional loss.