Maharashtra announces criteria to give hospitality sector a boost

The Maharashtra government has announced the criteria on which taxes and charges will be levied at industrial rates on non-classified hotels in the special hospitality category, officials said on Saturday.

The government resolution (GR) on this was issued on Friday, they added.

From April 1 this year, all star hotels registered with the tourism ministry have been able to enjoy tariffs and duties on electricity, water as well as property, development and non-agricultural taxes at industrial rates.

For hotels which were not registered with the ministry, an expert committee was appointed under Tourism Director Dhananjay Sawalkar to define norms, they said.

"The tourism sector can play a major role in economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic as it has the potential to grow at an annual rate of 8.5 per cent and add Rs 5,500 crore to the state's GDP. However, the sector is currently losing about 2.8 lakh jobs due to the global pandemic, and hence the need to strengthen the sector," a tourism department statement said.

"Under the new criteria, hoteliers will be able to avail industrial concessions after fulfilling the criteria set by the state government's committee. These criteria are categorised in two sections, the first outlines 50 mandatory minimum basic standards that need to be fulfilled by the non- classified hotels," an official said.

These include a minimum of six rooms with windows and proper ventilation for letting out, cleanliness, staff conduct etc, while the second criteria comprises 43 norms, attaining some of which would qualify an outlet to be called a 'green hotel', the official added.

The green hotel norms include rainwater harvesting system, effective waste management practises, no use of plastics etc, the official pointed out.

In order to bolster the hospitality sector, the state government had given it industry status last year.