Tourism ministry to set up investment desk to bolster pvt investments

Invest India will help set up the desk, said Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi

The government is looking to bolster investments in the tourism sector by setting up an investment desk at the tourism ministry.
 
Invest India, the official investment promotion and facilitation agency of the government, will help set up the desk, Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi said on Thursday. 
 
Speaking at an event organised by industry body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), Zutshi said the investment desk was only one of the initiatives the ministry is looking at before the second Incredible India Investors meet in September. 

 
While the tourism sector’s share in national employment stands at a significant 12.36 per cent, its contribution to gross domestic product is 6.88 per cent. However, the government is now focusing on increasing investments in the sector, in anticipation of a rise in tourist volumes, expected to follow the current overhauling of crucial tourism infrastructure, Zutshi said.  
 

 
This primarily includes improvements to connectivity on land, rail to air and tourist places. The secretary said the tourism ministry is in talks with the ministry of road transport and highways to identify key road linkages to tourist areas that need to be upgraded, apart from identifying the same vis-à-vis rail routes. Also, talks are on with the civil aviation ministry to identify 15 unused airstrips, which might help connect tourist areas difficult to access, he added.
 
These efforts will require large-scale investments by the private sector to create facilities after tourist numbers rise, Zutshi said.
 
On the other hand, the government is aiming to boost ease of doing business in the tourism sector, within the larger framework of easier business norms. Referring to the delay in receiving construction permits in major cities, the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) Secretary Ramesh Abhishek said waiting periods have been brought down to a fortnight in Delhi and as low as four to five days in states like Chhattisgarh.

 
“While earlier different agencies had to be approached for the same permit, now a single online portal is being built to receive many government services,” Abhishek added. He said 100 per cent foreign direct investment is permitted via the automatic route in the sector, and, in the past two years, the country has attracted $2 billion investments.