Hospitality sector bats for industry status, GST reduction
The hospitality sector should be given the status of an industry in the upcoming Union Budget to accelarate growth, senior executives from the sector told LiveMint. The sector has made "substantial contributions" to the nation's gross domestic product (GDP), is labour and capital intensive, and brings in foreign exchange revenues, they pointed out.
"The industry's substantial contributions to GDP, employment, and foreign exchange revenues make it very deserving of such recognition. The industry can't progress sustainably without industrial status to help drive its growth," Anarock Group Chairman Anuj Puri told LiveMint.
Last month, in a pre-budget meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) President Sanjiv Puri, chairman and managing director of ITC Ltd, also suggested that the sector be given the tag of an "industry."
Later, the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) also asked the government to grant infrastructure status for hotels across all categories.
