The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has presented its Pre-budget Memorandum for 2014-15 to the Union Ministry of Finance, encompassing recommendations on various issues of direct/ indirect taxation and financial policy, pertaining to the hospitality sector. A delegation from FHRAI, led by the President, S.M. Shervani also participated in a high-level pre-budget meeting, chaired by the Secretary (Revenue), Government of India, Rajiv Takru.
Outlining FHRAI’s key proposals, Shervani said, “The past two years have been a particularly challenging phase for the industry, due to the impact of continued global economic uncertainties and a sharp domestic downturn. However, despite these adverse headwinds, the long-term potential of India’s tourism sector and its strategic role in supporting our country’s quest for inclusive growth, remains undiminished. In this scenario, FHRAI’s recommendations for the forthcoming Union Budget have focused on policy measures which can allow our industry to deftly navigate the myriad near-term challenges which we confront and also build a strong foundation for the sector’s rapid and sustainable future growth.”
He further added that there are three key priorities which merit the Finance Minister’s urgent consideration – Rationalisation of our industry’s multiple tax structure, so as to position India as a globally competitive tourist destination; Facilitating a broad spectrum of institutional mechanisms by which the hospitality industry, including our small & medium enterprises, can access lower cost long-term finance; and Offering fiscal concessions and incentives to help mobilise the massive capital investment of over rupees 1,25,000 crore, which is required to augment the country’s hotel room inventory by an additional 1,80,000 rooms, in view of the ambitious targets envisaged in the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17).
“We were greatly enthused when the Prime Minister himself very eloquently articulated that tourism will be one of the five pivotal drivers of India’s transformational growth. Recognising tourism’s multifaceted contribution as a key enabler of socio-economic progress through creation of jobs, enterprise, infrastructure development and foreign exchange earnings, his party’s election manifesto had proposed a visionary roadmap to more effectively leverage the sector’s vast untapped potential. We are optimistic that this unequivocal commitment will also be amply reflected in the Government’s maiden budget, by way of giving a strong policy impetus to the hospitality and tourism industry,” Sherwani stated.
