India to invest Rs 1 trillion in setting up 100 new airports by 2024

As per the people with knowledge of the matter, to revive economic growth in Asia's 3rd largest economy, India is planning to start 100 additional airports by 2024. Along with this the proposal includes the 1,000 new routes which is going to be connected with smaller towns and villages, the sources said last week. The plan was discussed in a meeting to review infrastructure needed by 2025, as stated by sources, as the discussion is private, asking not to be identified. Steps to start a plane-lease financing business in the country was also discussed, they said.

With economic activity at a six-year low and probability of further slowdown looming, to revive the growth and achieve a target of making India a US$ 5 trillion economy by 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen to double down on infrastructure projects. To compete with the likes of Vietnam and Indonesia for investments amid global trade tensions, Government of India cut the corporate tax rates last month, putting India on par with some of the lowest in Asia.

India's plan to expedite development of airport still trails that of China's, which has a goal of having 450 commercial airports by 2035, which is almost double the number at the end of 2018.

According to the people, proposal by India's think tank also includes enhancing the number of locally trained pilots to 600 a year and double the domestic aircraft fleet to 1,200 during the period. To build airports in next 5 years, Government of India has committed the investments of Rs 1 trillion.

Three years back from now, only 75 of India's 450 runway were functional, as airlines avoided flying to smaller, World War-era airstrips in smaller towns. But with the support of Modi's subsidy program, which partly funds the airlines who losses while capping fares on remote routes and at the starting of 2019, has also helped by adding 38 airports to nation's aviation map, although, the contracts were given to airlines to start flights to a further 63 airports with no or limited connectivity.

While the lure of India, with an emerging middle class flying for the first time, has attracted companies such as Singapore Airlines Ltd. and AirAsia Bhd. to set up local units, provincial taxes in the nation make jet fuel one of the most expensive in the world. The government is aware of the high taxation burden and higher jet fuel prices and will rationalize the tax regime as soon as next year, the people said.

They also said, India will also encourage the use of drones, for which the policy has been announced by government this year allowing unmanned vehicles to fly beyond the line of sight, and sees the number of legal drones reaching a million by 2024. By 2021, country will prepare the drone corridors and by 2023, will allow delivery of goods by drones.

India signs MoU with Saudi Arabia to launch RuPay card in Gulf Kingdom

To launch the RuPay Card in county, India signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia on Tuesday making it 3rd nation in the West Asia to initiate the India's digital payment system which will benefit not only the 2.6 million Indians in Gulf Kingdom but also in Haj and Umrah Pilgrims.

RuPay Card is the first-of-its-kind Indian Domestic Debit and Credit Card payment network and also accepted at ATMs, POS device and on e-commerce websites.
RuPay Card is introduced in 2012 to achieve the vision of Reserve Bank of India i.e. to have a domestic, open and multilateral system of payments.
As India has already launched RuPay Card in UAE, Bahrain, Singapore and Bhutan.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit, an MoU was signed to launch the RuPay cards in Saudi Arabia, said a joint statement issued at the end of his visit.
In Saudi Arabia, over 2.6 million Indians are working, which is the largest expatriate community in the country. Every year around 2 hundred thousand Haj pilgrims and over 3 hundred thousand Umrah pilgrims visit to Saudi Arabia from India and the acceptance of RuPay Card allow them to transact at cheaper rates.

RuPay is a highly secure network that protects against cyberhacks and is India's version of Master Card and Visa.

Currently, in India, there are around 500 million RuPay Cards in circulation.

To enhance its international acceptance RuPay has tied-up with international players like Discover, Japan Credit Bureau and China Union Pay. It has also achieved a milestone of issuing 25 million RuPay Cards.

India's relations with Saudi Arabia have been on an upswing over the last few years based on burgeoning energy ties besides cooperation in several other areas. Prime Minister Modi's first visit to Riyadh in 2016 put bilateral ties on a new trajectory.

Strategic Partnership Council Agreement with Saudi Arabia would further strengthen the robust bilateral relations, says Prime Minister Narendra Modi

The signing of the agreement on the Strategic Partnership Council by India and Saudi Arabia would strengthen the already robust relations between the two countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

Prime Minister who is visiting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was speaking to the Arab News.

This is second visit of Prime Minister Modi to the Kingdom in three years.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the two countries have been working together within the G20 to reduce inequality and promote sustainable development.
Saying stable oil prices are crucial for the growth of the global economy, he praised the Kingdom’s role as an important and reliable source of India's energy requirements.

Talking about the excellent personal relations between him and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia HRH Mohammad Bin Salman, the Prime Minister said, "Since my first visit to the Kingdom in 2016, I have personally witnessed a remarkable growth in our bilateral relations. I have met His Royal Highness (HRH) Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman five times. I recall with warmth my previous meetings with him and look forward to meeting him again during this visit.

I am confident that under the leadership of His Majesty King Salman and HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, bilateral relations between India and Saudi Arabia will only grow stronger."

Prime Minister said, "Neighbourhood First" continues to be the guiding vision for my government's foreign policy. India's relations with Saudi Arabia are one of the most important bilateral relationships in our extended neighbourhood."

On the agreement on Strategic Partnership Council, which is going to be signed during this visit, he said, "will begin a new era of cooperation across sectors. Our ties across various dimensions such as trade, investment, security and defense cooperation are robust and deep, and will only strengthen further."

"I believe that Asian powers like India and Saudi Arabia share similar security concerns in their neighborhood. In that respect, I am happy that our cooperation, particularly in the field of counterterrorism, security and strategic issues, is progressing very well. My national security adviser just visited Riyadh for a very productive visit."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India and Saudi Arabia have a Joint Committee on Defence Cooperation that holds regular meetings and that the two nations have identified several areas of mutual interest and cooperation in the field of defence and security.

"We are also in the process of entering into agreements on security cooperation, collaboration in defence industries, and also agreed to hold a comprehensive security dialogue mechanism between the two countries", he said.

On the question of turmoil in several regions of West Asia, the Prime Minister called for 'a balanced approach to resolve the conflicts, while respecting the principles of sovereignty and non-interference in each other's internal matters'.

He said, "India shares excellent bilateral relations with all the countries in the region, and a very large Indian diaspora, numbering over 8 million, resides in the region. A dialogue process that encourages the participation of all stakeholders is important to bring peace and security to this very important region."

On his outlook on the current global economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "The global economic outlook is strongly dependent on the path chartered by the large developing countries such as India. As I mentioned in my speech at the UN General Assembly in September, we sincerely believe that we need collective efforts, for the growth of all, with everyone's trust."

He said, "Economic uncertainty is an offshoot of unbalanced multilateral trade systems. Within the G20, India and Saudi Arabia have been working together to reduce inequality and promote sustainable development. I am happy to note that Saudi Arabia will be hosting the G20 Summit next year and India will host it in 2022, which is also the 75th anniversary of our independence."

On the question of the current sluggishness in the Western Economies and the role of India and Saudi Arabia in such a scenario, the Prime Minister said, "India has undertaken many reforms to create a business-friendly environment, and to ensure that we remain a major driver of global growth and stability. Our reforms for ease of doing business and introducing investor-friendly initiatives have contributed to improving our position in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index from 142 in 2014 to 63 in 2019."

"A number of major flagship initiatives, like Make in India, Digital India, Skill India, Swachh Bharat, Smart Cities and Startup India, are offering a lot of opportunities to foreign investors. Similarly, I am happy to note that Saudi Arabia too has embarked upon a reform program as part of their Vision 2030."

On the long-term energy relation with Saudi Arabia, which is the largest Oil supplier to India, he said, "India imports around 18 percent of its crude oil from the Kingdom, making it the second-largest source of crude oil for us. From a purely buyer-seller relationship, we are now moving toward a closer strategic partnership that will include Saudi investments in downstream oil and gas projects."

"We value the Kingdom's vital role as an important and reliable source of our energy requirements. We believe that stable oil prices are crucial for the growth of the global economy, particularly for developing countries. Saudi Aramco is participating in a major refinery and petrochemical project on India's west coast. We are also looking forward to the participation of Aramco in India's Strategic Petroleum Reserves."

On the question whether India would like Saudi Arabia's participation in the massive Smart City projects announced by the Government, Prime Minister Modi said, "One of the major areas of cooperation between India and Saudi Arabia is in investments in our infrastructure projects. During his visit to India in February 2019, the crown prince had indicated an intent to invest in excess of $100 billion in India across various sectors."

"We welcome greater Saudi investments in our infrastructure projects, including the Smart Cities program. We also welcome Saudi interest in investing in the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund."

Talking about the areas other than energy, in which India and Saudi Arabia can cooperate, the Prime Minister said, "I am happy to share with you that during my visit this time, India and Saudi Arabia plan to enter into agreements in various areas, including defense, security, renewable energy etc."

"Other major initiatives include the proposal to launch the RuPay card in the Kingdom, which will facilitate payments and remittances by the Indian diaspora; integration of the e-Migrate and e-Thawtheeq portals, which will facilitate the process of migration of Indian labor into the Kingdom; and an agreement on training diplomats in our respective academies."

"India is known for its world-class capacity-building centers, and there are many initiatives to provide training to the Saudi youth in different fields. We are also discussing cooperation in the field of space research."

In his message to the Indian Diaspora in Saudi Arabia, the Prime Minister said, "Nearly 2.6 million Indians have made Saudi Arabia their second home, contributing to its growth and development. Many Indians also visit the Kingdom every year for the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimage, and for business purposes."

He said, "My message to my fellow citizens is that your country is proud of the place that you have made for yourself in the Kingdom, and your hard work and commitment have helped to generate a lot of goodwill for the overall bilateral relationship."

"I am confident that you will continue to remain the binding force in our ties with the Kingdom, and further contribute to the strengthening of the historic ties between the two countries, which are based on people-to-people contacts over several decades."

During the present visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have bilateral discussions with King Salman and delegation-level talks with the crown prince. These discussions will be in addition to Modi delivering the keynote address at the third Future Investment Initiative (FII) forum, widely seen as the most important economic forum in the Middle East.

Prime Minister Modi's visit is expected to further strengthen and expand bilateral ties in various areas such as security and strategic cooperation, defence, energy security, renewable energy, investments, trade and commerce, small and medium enterprises, agriculture, civil aviation, infrastructure, housing, financial services, training and capacity building, culture and people-to-people engagement. Nearly a dozen government-to-government agreements related to these areas are expected to be signed, as well as several government-to-business agreements.

One of the most important outcomes of the visit is expected to be the establishment of a Strategic Partnership Council (SPC) between the two countries. India will become the fourth country with which the Kingdom has formed a strategic partnership, the others being the UK, France and China.

The SPC will have two parallel tracks: Political, security, culture and society, headed by both countries' foreign ministers; and economy and investment, headed by India's commerce and industry minister and the Saudi energy minister.

Energy security is one of the prime areas of India's engagement with Saudi Arabia. New Delhi appreciates the Kingdom's vital role as a reliable source for India's long-term energy supplies; the Kingdom supplies 18 percent of India's crude oil requirements and 30 percent of its liquefied petroleum gas needs. Both countries are keen to transform the buyer-seller relationship in this sector into a much broader strategic partnership based on mutual complementarity and interdependence.

Companies have spent Rs 50,000 crore on CSR in 5 years: Government

President Ram Nath Kovind stated, every fiscal year since 2014-15, the corporate sector has set aside over Rs 10,000 crore (US$ 1.43 billion) towards the corporate social responsibility. He added that the companies act was amended in 2013-14 made it mandatory for companies with over certain profit levels to spend 2 per cent of it on social welfare.

On Tuesday, he gave away the first CSR award which is instituted by the Corporate Affairs Ministry.
Over the last 5 years, companies have contributed more than Rs 50,000 crore (US$ 7.15 billion) towards the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibilities) activities, said Mr. Anurag Thakur, MoS Finance.

Corporate affairs secretary Injeti Srinivas also said that on social welfare activities companies have spent Rs 50,000 crore (US$ 7.15 billion) cumulatively over the last 5 years.

India companies lead the world on disclosing CSR spends: Study

India has witnessed a marginal dip in corporate responsibility-related reporting by the top- 100 companies, but continues to be among the best in the world in this aspect, a 49-country study has found.
It also tops in the list of countries with highest rate of corporate responsibility (CR) related information in annual reports, it said, adding 98 per cent of the top 100 companies have the details.
As against a 100 per cent compliance observed in 2015, the reporting rate dipped marginally to 99 per cent for 2017, the study by global consultancy major KPMG has said.
It can be noted that under the amended Companies Act, 2013, corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting has been made mandatory for companies.
Interestingly, it said regulation is driving reporting on human rights as well, it said.
"The Business Responsibility Report (BRR), an annual disclosure mandated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), requires the top 500 listed companies to report on nine core principles, one of which focuses on human rights," Santhosh Jayaram, KPMG's partner for sustainability services, said.
India is ranked the highest, with 95 pf the top 100 companies acknowledging human rights in their CR reporting, the study said.
From a global perspective, it said companies in the mining space have been found to be the most likely to acknowledge human rights in their reporting.

US firms evince interest to invest in UP

In a significant boost to job opportunities in Uttar Pradesh, over two dozen US companies today evinced keen interest to invest in the state.
A 50-member delegation, representing 26 major US firms, had a detailed interaction with state cabinet minister Siddharth Nath Singh here to explore investment opportunities in UP.
Welcoming the delegation, Singh said, "We will give you red carpet welcome in the true spirit of 'Atithi Devo Bhava' (guest is God)".
"I welcome delegates to fulfil our 'Sankalp Patra' (manifesto) by creating employment through your investment in UP," he said, referring to BJP's pre-poll document in which the party had pledged to create massive job opportunities for youth.
Seeking to showcase the state as an attractive destination for investment, Singh said, "Yogi Adityanath government's narrative is different from the previous governments. We will give you a red carpet welcome in the true spirit of Atithi Devo Bhava".
Singh said, "We will work hard to ensure that those (sitting) in this room don't go to other states to invest, but invest in UP. This will happen by providing a better Eco System".
With the tagline "US in UP" on the lines of 'Vibrant Gujarat', the state government invited US firms to invest in the state.
The delegation, headed by Boeing, visited the state under the aegis of US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), which is committed to create the most powerful strategic partnership between the US and India and promote bilateral trade.
The USISPF said in a statement, "Our mission reaches far beyond this. It is about business and government coming together in new ways to create meaningful opportunities that have the power to change the lives of citizens".
It said that investment incentives offered by the state under the new chief minister "translates into a business- friendly climate for industry".
Singh told PTI that taking a cue from 'Vibrant Gujarat', the idea of 'US in UP' has been mooted to display the state's investment avenues in chemicals, petrochemicals, cement, gems, pharmaceuticals, textiles and engineering sectors.
He said a small delegation had visited this state two months back and realising the "tremendous investment potential" in the state, a bigger delegation was here today.
Singh said the foundation for the high-profile tour was laid when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the United States in June and invited CEOs of top US companies to invest in India, saying GST was a game changer that made the country a business-friendly destination.
Officials from the US Embassy and US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) are also a part of the delegation, which included representatives from Facebook, Adobe, Coca Cola, Mastercard, Mosanto, Uber, Honeywell, P&G, Oracle and GE Health, besides Pratt & Whitney, Merck, Medtronic, Azure Power and Cargill.
Uttar Pradesh has recently come up with an Industrial Investment & Employment Promotion Policy to create a framework to stabilise and make existing industries more competitive and to attract and realise new international and national investments in the industrial sector.
"Uttar Pradesh has tremendous scope in terms of development and investment. The scope of employment is ample in sectors like health, industrial development, education, infrastructure, information technology and tourism," Singh said, adding that the state government will extend all possible help and co-operation.
The state health minister singh also said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his desire that investment should get a priority in UP. If investment is increased, there will be an increase in the employment opportunities, which will improve the life of the people and also boost the GDP of the state".
Focusing on tourism, Singh said, "There is immense scope of development of tourism in UP, and investors can invest in significant quantity in this sector. Every region of the state is known as a tourist destination, but owing to non-holistic development of the tourist spots, they are lying ignored. The government using its own limited resources is focusing on their development".
He also urged the investors to invest in tourism sector along with infrastructure. The state minister said, "The effort of the government is to ensure that the last man of the society is not deprived of health facilities. Work is being done to increase the speed of ambulances, so that the needy people can get benefit in short span of time." PTI ABN NAV SMI

US firms evince interest to invest in UP

In a significant boost to job opportunities in Uttar Pradesh, over two dozen US companies today evinced keen interest to invest in the state.
A 50-member delegation, representing 26 major US firms, had a detailed interaction with state cabinet minister Siddharth Nath Singh here to explore investment opportunities in UP.
Welcoming the delegation, Singh said, "We will give you red carpet welcome in the true spirit of 'Atithi Devo Bhava' (guest is God)".
"I welcome delegates to fulfil our 'Sankalp Patra' (manifesto) by creating employment through your investment in UP," he said, referring to BJP's pre-poll document in which the party had pledged to create massive job opportunities for youth.
Seeking to showcase the state as an attractive destination for investment, Singh said, "Yogi Adityanath government's narrative is different from the previous governments. We will give you a red carpet welcome in the true spirit of Atithi Devo Bhava".
Singh said, "We will work hard to ensure that those (sitting) in this room don't go to other states to invest, but invest in UP. This will happen by providing a better Eco System".
With the tagline "US in UP" on the lines of 'Vibrant Gujarat', the state government invited US firms to invest in the state.
The delegation, headed by Boeing, visited the state under the aegis of US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), which is committed to create the most powerful strategic partnership between the US and India and promote bilateral trade.
The USISPF said in a statement, "Our mission reaches far beyond this. It is about business and government coming together in new ways to create meaningful opportunities that have the power to change the lives of citizens".
It said that investment incentives offered by the state under the new chief minister "translates into a business- friendly climate for industry".
Singh told PTI that taking a cue from 'Vibrant Gujarat', the idea of 'US in UP' has been mooted to display the state's investment avenues in chemicals, petrochemicals, cement, gems, pharmaceuticals, textiles and engineering sectors.
He said a small delegation had visited this state two months back and realising the "tremendous investment potential" in the state, a bigger delegation was here today.
Singh said the foundation for the high-profile tour was laid when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the United States in June and invited CEOs of top US companies to invest in India, saying GST was a game changer that made the country a business-friendly destination.
Officials from the US Embassy and US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) are also a part of the delegation, which included representatives from Facebook, Adobe, Coca Cola, Mastercard, Mosanto, Uber, Honeywell, P&G, Oracle and GE Health, besides Pratt & Whitney, Merck, Medtronic, Azure Power and Cargill.
Uttar Pradesh has recently come up with an Industrial Investment & Employment Promotion Policy to create a framework to stabilise and make existing industries more competitive and to attract and realise new international and national investments in the industrial sector.
"Uttar Pradesh has tremendous scope in terms of development and investment. The scope of employment is ample in sectors like health, industrial development, education, infrastructure, information technology and tourism," Singh said, adding that the state government will extend all possible help and co-operation.
The state health minister singh also said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his desire that investment should get a priority in UP. If investment is increased, there will be an increase in the employment opportunities, which will improve the life of the people and also boost the GDP of the state".
Focusing on tourism, Singh said, "There is immense scope of development of tourism in UP, and investors can invest in significant quantity in this sector. Every region of the state is known as a tourist destination, but owing to non-holistic development of the tourist spots, they are lying ignored. The government using its own limited resources is focusing on their development".
He also urged the investors to invest in tourism sector along with infrastructure. The state minister said, "The effort of the government is to ensure that the last man of the society is not deprived of health facilities. Work is being done to increase the speed of ambulances, so that the needy people can get benefit in short span of time." PTI ABN NAV SMI

India's First Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra for Skilling in Smart Cities

To bring momentum in skilling through collaborative efforts, the Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh along with Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri Dharmendra Pradhan here today inaugurated India's first Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) for Skilling in Smart Cities, in collaboration with New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC). The ministers also laid the foundation for a Skill Development Centre at Moti Bagh and a Centre of Excellence at Dharam Marg, New Delhi.
Affirming synergies with the Government of India’s flagship programs, the new skill development centres underscore the commitment of the Ministry of Urban Affairs & Housing (MUHA) and the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) to support skilling in smart cities. National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), an executive arm of MSDE, has collaborated with New Delhi Municipal Council Smart City Limited (NDMCSCL) to extend cooperation for setting up of PMKK Centres for Smart Cities, to provide skill training for unemployed youth through its short-term training (STT) module and contribute to the capacity building of municipal employees through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) program.

The event also had graceful presence of dignitaries such as Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, New Delhi; Shri Naresh Kumar, Chairman, NDMC; Shri Karan Singh Tanwar, Vice – Chairman, NDMC; Shri Surender Singh, MLA & Member, NDMC and other senior officials from MUHA, MSDE, NSDC and NDMC.
Inaugurating the skill development centres, Shri Rajnath Singh said, “India which has the privilege of being a young nation, would gain from this demographic dividend to become a superpower and be amongst the top three counties in the world by 2030. The key to reach this milestone is by investing in our youth and making them skilled.” Shri Rajnath Singh added, “A skilled person gets respect, recognition and honor due to his hard work. I strongly believe that these skill development centres would aspire youth to take up vocational training to make themselves self-reliant.”
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan said, “Collaboration is the need of the hour to support inclusive and sustainable development in the country. Today’s event signifies integration and convergence approach towards Respected Prime Minister’s two most ambitious projects – the Skill India Mission and the Smart City Mission. Skilled workforce is required for effective development of any big or small project. We aim for recognition and respect to this workforce through skill training.”
Special Guest at the event Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi, MP Lok Sabha said, “I would like to applaud the efforts of both the ministries and its nodal agencies NSDC and NDMC for pioneering steps to bring in equitable growth and development. I am confident that such centers would deliver quality by extending access to trained youth, which would catalyse the creation of smart cities in the country.”
President, NDMC Shri Naresh Kumar said, "National Skill Mission will prove to be a milestone for the developed India. NDMC supports inclusive development by introducing best practices in skilling and is determined to leave no stone unturned to achieve the mission”.
The newly inaugurated Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra leverages NDMC infrastructure for skilling initiatives. Located at Mandir Marg, New Delhi, the NDMC-PMKK Centre for Skilling in Smart Cities is an exemplary heritage building of approx. 30,000 sq.ft., with a capacity of skilling 4,000 youth annually. Catering to healthcare and solar energy sectors, the centre will be managed by one of NSDC’s affiliated training partners - Orion Edutech, which has an impeccable record of training nearly 3 lakh candidates through its network of over 275 skill development centres across the country. On this occasion, a solar-power lab powered by Schneider Electric was also inaugurated.

India eyes 100 mn jobs through tourism in 5 yrs: Alphons

India aims to create 100 million jobs through tourism and attract 40 million foreign tourists annually in the next five years, Union minister K J Alphons said today.
The minister also said that
at present, 14.4 million international tourists visit India annually, he said, adding the annual foreign exchange earning (through tourist spends) is about Rs 1.56 lakh crore.
"We have set an aim of providing 100 million jobs through the tourism sector and (attracting) 40 million foreign tourists annually into India in the next five years. Today, we are providing about 43 million jobs," the Minister of State for Tourism said at a press conference.
After meeting the CEOs of companies investing in the sector and deliberating upon how to maximise its potential, Alphons asserted he would "strongly recommend" to the finance ministry for a reduction in the GST rate for five-star hotel rooms attracting a tariff of Rs 7,500 and above.
"They (industry) feel the taxes are too high. We would certainly bat for the industry and request the finance ministry to bring down the tax rates so that there will be much better acceptance," the minister said.
Besides, Alphons said, the ministry was in advanced stages of a proposal to provide infrastructure status to the tourism industry for projects up to Rs 50 crore and will soon approach the union Cabinet for its approval on the same.
"With the infrastructure status, possibly the lending rates would come down, states would be able to give land on much better terms to the hotel industry," Alphons pointed out.
Elaborating upon the suggestions that emerged from the day-long deliberations, the minister said the tourism industry has sought a single-window clearance mechanism for approvals.
"Even though things have been made much easier at the Centre by the Government of India, they (industry) feel that things are still complicated at the state level. You need about 70 permits for a hotel to be opened, this is outrageous.
We need to bring down the number of permits which are required to operate a hotel down to the minimum," he said.
Moreover, Alphons said, the tourism industry feels that it is extremely expensive to set up hotels in India because the land cost is extremely high.
"We had proposals from the tourism industry which basically talked about providing land at concessional rate or lease so that one does not have to pay the complete amount upfront. We also agree in the ministry that the cost of land must come down dramatically otherwise they will not be able to set up hotels," said the minister.
Observing that there is a shortage of two lakh rooms across the country in the Rs 2,000 (per day tariff hotels) and below segment, Alphons highlighted the need for massive investment by the sector.
Besides, he said, the government and the industry will work together to ensure the availability of skilled professionals for the hospitality sector.
"We have a fairly large number of hospitality institutes run by the ministry itself and we along with the private sector will work on a massive skill development programme," he said.
The minister also conveyed the decision to set up four joint working groups to handle various issues. The working groups will comprise of representatives from the government, tourism industry, Invest India and Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.
"They (working group) will meet very often and sort out issues, make recommendations to the ministry. We will follow up on these issues meticulously," Alphons said.
He said the tourism sector sought establishment of a national tourism board for constant engagement between the tourism ministry and the industry and a regulatory framework for home stay, etc, adding that the ministry will certainly look into both suggestions.
India currently attracts 1 per cent of global tourists and the government expects to double the numbers over the next five years, Tourism Secretary Rashmi Verma said.
Besides, Verma said the ministry is looking at creating better facilities at the airport so that tourists coming to India get clearance faster and don't have to stand in queues.
"We are also setting up facilitation centres at some of the key airports like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, etc to facilitate the people who are coming on e-visas," Verma said.
She said the ministry was trying to completely change the mindset and ensure that the country's world heritage sites and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protected monuments have world-class infrastructure facilities.
"We have launched a new scheme called Adopt a Heritage, in which we have offered select ASI monuments and the World Heritage sites for adoption by the industry or the public sector for setting up basic amenities like clean toilets, clean drinking water.
"Seven sites have already been selected by the public sector and the private sector (for adoption). We are very hopeful that we will succeed in creating world-class facilities at our ASI monuments and world heritage sites in partnership with the private and public sector to provide a much better experience to tourists," Verma said.

Leather exports to rise 10 pc by 2019: Minister

Leather exports and production are expected to increase by 10 per cent by 2019, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C R Chaudhary said today.
India's leather exports currently stands at USD 5.66 billion.
"We are expecting that by 2019, leather exports and production would increase by 10 per cent," he told reporters here.
The minister also said that the government is taking steps to improve business environment for the sector as part of the exercise to push growth.
Chaudhary further said that all Footwear Design and Development Institutes (FDDIs) would become institutes of national importance from today.
The FDDI Act, which was approved by Parliament, will be implemented from today, he added.
FDDIs will be able to give degrees, diplomas and certificates and they would also formulate their course and curriculum, he added.
The approval of the FDDI Act by Parliament in July had ended the uncertainty among the students who were not sure whether they would get degree from the institute.
The controversy with regard to the institute dates back to 2015, when the UGC, in September 2014, raised questions against the MoU between FDDI and Mewar University for grant of degree to students for the years 2012, 2013 and 2014.
In 2016, students of FDDI, Noida went on protest demanding degrees instead of diplomas.
The FDDI has 12 campuses of which eight are functional.
When asked whether ban on cow slaughter and increased cow vigilantism has impacted raw material availability and exports of leather, the minister said it is not so.
The exports of leather goods is linked to demand in developed regions like Europe, he added.