On February 1, 2017, from 11 am to almost 1 pm, the country’s Finance Minister (FM) did what he does best.. building hopes and expectations and finally leaving it to the thought leaders and the common man of course to decipher what his two hour speech meant to both individuals and industries at large. Since our concern is related directly to the tourism, hospitality and the transport sectors in totality, the general consensus has been rather positive but also prudent in the same breath. For the industry thought leaders who would like the BJP government to be more proactive, there certainly has been some noticeable progress in terms of both intent and investment. This budget can be termed as the one that intends to be ‘on track’ with the railways receiving some interesting advantages. This is the first instance of the Railway Budget being integrated into the Union Budget and this merger is tipped to provide a further impetus to the transport sector’s growth, as per the PM’s opinion. Apart from the railways, the aviation and the road transport sectors also received reasonable mention.
The FM Arun Jaitley, has outlined several developments and plans for the tourism sector. Jaitley referred to tourism as a big employment generator and has announced that the government will set up five special tourism zones in co-ordination with state governments, alongside launching the Incredible India campaign on the international level. Selected airports in Tier II cities have been identified for taking up operations and development under the PPP model. However, the minister hasn’t revealed the specific details on the same. The focus of railways for the 2017-2018 fiscal will be on passenger safety, capital works and cleanliness, among other issues such as infrastructure upgradation and provisions for passengers. The railways will also take steps for launching dedicated trains for tourism and pilgrimage purposes. In this direction, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) had announced last month it will launch the first pilgrim train for the North East region on February 17, which will connect to destinations like the Jagannath and Konark temples.
Our industry experts have given their verdict (details in this issue). They feel that though the announcements have been made on the five circuits, it’s crucial to know which are the identified five. Experts also feel that they need more clarity on the taxing of services under GST, which is also vital. Finally, it would be interesting to watch what the new 2.0 campaign has in store for further boosting the image of Incredible India.
Reema Lokesh
Editor