Budget 2022: Tourism sector set to get nearly 12% hike

With days left for the Union Budget 2022-23, Business Today Television has learnt that the allocation for the ministry of tourism is likely to be increased by 12 per cent to around Rs 2,300 crore. The outlay for the ministry in the current financial year was nearly Rs 2,027 crore. 

The Ministry of Tourism has also proposed some relief measures that could be addressed in the upcoming Budget, according to sources. 

These include the refund of goods and services tax (GST) refund for foreign visitors, infrastructure status to the hospitality sector, an extension of service exports from India Scheme (SEIS) and eliminating tax collection at source for foreign travel.

Infrastructure status will help hotels and hospitality companies resolve a large number of issues and encourage investment in the sector. This would also enable hotels to avail benefits of lower taxation, utility tariffs, a longer period to repay loans and a simplified approval process for projects. 

The hospitality industry contributes 9 per cent to India's GDP employing over 40 million people. The sector has borne the brunt of the Covid pandemic which is now in its third year. Industry is hopeful that the forthcoming policy announcents will help it tide over recent disruptions and restore business normalcy to the sector.

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