Maha Govt accords industry status to hospitality sector; strives to revive tourism business

Aurangabad, Dec 7:

Maharashtra government has awarded the industry status to the hospitality sector and ordered to levy taxes and charges as per industrial rate from April 1, 2021. The cabinet meeting took the decision held on December 3. Meanwhile, the Aurangabad Hotels and Restaurant Association (AH&RA) has welcomed the government''s decision.

The state government has ordered collection of electricity charges, property tax, water tax, development charges, non-agricultural tax and additional floor space index (FSI) as per the industrial rate from the hoteliers registered with the union government''s Ministry of Tourism (MoT).

The cabinet also decided to form an expert committee to determine the criteria of levying taxes and charges as per industrial rate to the non-registered hoteliers. The committee has to complete the task in two months to ensure that they could get basic minimum standards.

The government also instructed to invite the applications through online and levy tax/charges as per industrial rate to the hotels fulfilling the criteria.

Meanwhile, the AH&RA vice president, Sunil Chaudhary, welcomed the state government''s decision of awarding industry status to the hospitality sector from the next financial year. He said," The hospitality sector is the third-largest revenue collecting industry in the country. The sector also plays an important role in the GDP. The decision of awarding the industry status way back in 1999. Hence, we all were waiting for the GR in this regard for the past two decades. Indeed, the decision will help the industry to revive the business gradually."