Hospitality players want the government to accord infrastructure status to hotels to make investments on new properties more attractive rather than categorising them as luxury or even 'sin goods' in the upcoming Union Budget considering the sector's potential to play a key role in India's growth. They also want the government to consider incentives in the form of tax breaks or subsidies for adopting sustainable and eco-friendly practices, while asserting that the upcoming budget must accelerate the tourism agenda saying it is an opportunity to make Indian hospitality the emerging engine for GDP growth and employment generation.
Encouraged by a steady recovery seen in the first two weeks of February, hospitality firms expect the business hotels in metros including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad that have been lagging the leisure hotels in terms of revenue per available room (RevPar) to catch up in the coming months. Huge pent-up demand for MICE (meetings, incentives, conference and exhibitions) as companies slowly return to hosting physical events coupled with easing of the recently announced restrictions on international travel, will also help in getting closer to pre-Covid levels of revenue, they said. The Omicron wave that peaked in January had derailed the strong month-on-month recovery seen by the hotels since August.
Sanjay Sethi, 52, of New Jersey pleaded guilty on Tuesday before US District Judge Jose Linares in Newark federal court to an information charging him with conspiracy to conceal assets in undeclared bank accounts from the Internal Revenue Service.
Suraj Singh Sherawat, son of the owner of the BMW car involved in a hit-and-run case on May 5, surrendered on Tuesday in a court in Gurgoan and was released on bail.
Berggruen Hotels, promoted by US investment firm Berggruen Holdings, on Tuesday said it will invest Rs 1,100 crore (Rs 11 billion) over the next five years to build 38 'Keys' brand budget hotels comprising about 4,500 rooms across India.
Senior Indian Administrative Services officer Ashok Singhvi, who is the Principal Secretary (Mines) in Rajasthan, was arrested in the wee hours of Thursday by the state Anti Corruption Bureau in the eighth arrest in a bribery case involving clearance for reopening of six closed mines of a miner.
ShopClues does 1.5 million transactions a month and claims to have 40 million monthly visitors.
Executive lounges with happy hours, complimentary hors d'oeuvres, and complimentary services have been the norm - but not anymore.
After multiple attempts at selling itself, including to larger e-commerce player Snapdeal, ShopClues has found a buyer in Singapore-based e-commerce platform Qoo10 in an all-stock deal.
The Indian Meteorological Department, meanwhile, warned of intense spell of 30 to 50 mm rainfall per hour with strong winds in Mumbai and suburban areas.
With the Japanese government taking a lead in funding the megapolis' many signature infrastructure projects, the World Bank has evinced interest in funding the proposed Charkop-Dahisar and Wadala-Teen Hath Naka Metro projects.
USISPF slammed government's move and alleged that the amendments announced were without any consultation and are akin to changing rules in the middle of the game.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the policy last month.
Diane Wang's DHgate makes inroads into India's e-commerce ahead of Jack Ma's Alibaba.
Of all the tremors to rock the start-up world of late -- Snapdeal's layoffs, Stayzilla's shutting down, Flipkart's frequent devaluations -- nothing will match the rumble at ShopClues for poignancy.
Shopclues, the latest unicorn, was at the bottom of the sector loss pie.
With over 200 brands and websites as participants this year, the Google Online Shopping Festival is turning bigger.
It's not e-retailers alone. Bankers are also celebrating initiatives like 'Big Billion Day Sale' this festive season.
This issue assumes greater importance if you are a managed marketplace in the hypercompetitive online world.
Suveen Sinha finds out what the tribe of modern, internet entrepreneurs who no longer run their first start-ups are up to.
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