Lok Sabha Question No. 669 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-06
Subject: Steps to make India a Top Tourist Destination
Ministry: TOURISM
Asked by: Ramesh Bidhuri

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF TOURISM

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.669

## ANSWERED ON 06.02.2023

## STEPS TO MAKE INDIA A TOP TOURIST DESTINATION

## 669.  SHRI RAMESH BIDHURI:

Will the Minister of TOURISM be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken any steps for making India a top tourist destination in the world;
- (b)
- if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to revive Tourism industry of the country post Covid era?

## ANSWER

(SHRI G. KISHAN REDDY)

THE MINISTER OF TOURISM

- (a) & (b): The Ministry of Tourism has taken several steps over the years to provide a better experience for tourists to make India a top tourist destination in the world as per details given below:
- i. Launched Swadesh Darshan Scheme for the development of  tourism  related  infrastructure  in  the  country.    The Ministry of Tourism has revamped its Swadesh Darshan Scheme  as  Swadesh  Darshan  2.0 (SD2.0) with the objective to develop sustainable and responsible destinations  following  a  tourist  &  destination  centric approach.
- Lunched  National  Mission  on  Pilgrimage  Rejuvenation and  Spiritual,  Heritage  Augmentation  Drive  (PRASHAD) identified
- ii. Scheme for integrated development of pilgrimage destinations.
- iii.
- 24x7 toll free Multi-Lingual Tourist Helpline.
- iv. Providing  facility  of  e-Visa  for  5  sub-categories  i.e.  eTourist  visa,  e-Business  visa,  e-Medical  visa,  e-Medical
- Attendant visa and e-Conference visa for nationals of 165 countries.
- v. E-Visa has been further liberalized and the visa fee has been substantially reduced.
- vi. Conducting Programmes under the 'Capacity Building f or Service Providers' (CBSP) Scheme to train and up -grade manpower to provide better service standards.
- vii. New mountain peaks have been opened for Mountaineering/Trekking to give boost to adventure tourism in the country.
- viii. Lowering  of  GST  on  hotels  rooms  with  tariffs  of ₹ 1,001 to ₹ 7,500/night  to  12%;  those  above ₹ 7,501  to  18%  to increase India's competitiveness as a tourism destination.
- ix. On  the  recommendation  of  the  Ministry  of  Tourism,  59 tourism  routes  have  been  awarded  to  the  identified airlines  by  the  Ministry  of  Civil  Aviation  under  the  RCS UDAN  Scheme,  for  which  Ministry  of  Tourism  extends financial support in form of VGF (Viability Gap Funding). 51 of these routes have been operationalized till date to provide air connectivity to tourist destinations.
- (c): The  details  of  various  relief  measures  announced  by  the Government  for  redeveloping  post-COVID  tourism  sector  of  the country is given at Annexure.

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## ANNEXURE

STATEMENT IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (c)  OF  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.669  ANSWERED  ON  06.02.2023  REGARDING  STEPS TO MAKE INDIA A TOP TOURIST DESTINATION.

The  following  are  the  various  relief  measures  announced  by  the Government  for  redeveloping  post-COVID  tourism  sector  of  the country:

- i. The Government announced Atmanirbhar Bharat Package vide which  Rs.3.00  lakh  crore  collateral  free  automatic  loan  was made  available  for  Micro,  Small  and  Medium  Enterprises (MSMEs).  The  loan  will  have  4-year  tenure  and  12-month moratorium.
- ii. Under  Atmanirbhar  Bharat  package,  PF  contribution  of  both employer  and  employee  was  reduced  to  10%  each  from existing 12% each for all establishments covered by Employees'  Provident  Fund  Organisation  (EPFO)  for  three months.
- iii. Return filing deferred for three months with no penal interest for companies up to Rs.5.00 Crore, rest @ 9% penal interest.
- iv. The Government waived off PF contribution for three months for  organisations  with  less  than  100  pax  and  90%  of  their employees earn below Rs.15000.
- v. Deferment  of  Tax  Collected  at  Source  (TCS)  up  to  October
6. 2020.
- vi. The Central Government also gave relief from various regulatory compliances under Income Tax Act, companies Act and Goods and Service Tax (GST) Act for varying period in the wake  of  COVID-19  crisis  to  ensure  business  continuity  and survival.
- vii. Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme  (ECLGS) was launched in May, 2020 as part of Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan to support eligible Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and business enterprises in meeting their operational  liabilities  and  restarting  their  businesses.  Under the scheme, 100% credit guarantee is extended to the lending institutions for  loans  extended by them under the scheme to eligible  borrowers.  The  admissible  guarantee  limit  under  the scheme has been increased from Rs.4.5 lakh crore to Rs.5 lakh

crore, with the additional guarantee cover of Rs.50,000 crore earmarked exclusively for the Hospitality and related enterprises  including  Civil  Aviation  sector.  As  per  inputs received  from  National  Credit  Guarantee  Trustee  Company Limited  (NCGTC),  the  agency  operating  the  scheme,  under ECLGS  total  203180  guarantees  amounting  to  a  sum  of Rs.22015.82 crore have been issued to Travel, Tourism, Hotel, Restaurant etc. The detail is given below:

ECLGS data on Hospitality and related enterprises Sector as on 30.11.2022

| ECLGS - TRAVEL AND TOURISM DATA       | ECLGS - TRAVEL AND TOURISM DATA       | ECLGS - TRAVEL AND TOURISM DATA       | ECLGS - TRAVEL AND TOURISM DATA       |
|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| Scheme Type                           | Scheme Type                           | No of Guarantees Issued               | Loan Amount Guaranteed (Rs. in Cr)    |
| ECLGS 3.0                             | ECLGS 3.0                             | 2943                                  | 1935.80                               |
| ECLGS 3.0 EXTENSION                   | ECLGS 3.0 EXTENSION                   | 668                                   | 393.12                                |
| TOTAL                                 | TOTAL                                 | 3611                                  | 2328.94                               |
| ECLGS - HOTELS, RESTAURANTS ETC. DATA | ECLGS - HOTELS, RESTAURANTS ETC. DATA | ECLGS - HOTELS, RESTAURANTS ETC. DATA | ECLGS - HOTELS, RESTAURANTS ETC. DATA |
| Scheme Type                           | Scheme Type                           | No of Guarantees Issued               | Loan Amount Guaranteed (Rs. in Cr)    |
| ECLGS 3.0                             | ECLGS 3.0                             | 3486                                  | 6197.5                                |
| ECLGS EXTENSION                       | 3.0                                   | 1336                                  | 2468                                  |
| ECLGS 2.0                             | ECLGS 2.0                             | 219                                   | 3437.11                               |
| ECLGS EXTENSION                       | 2.0                                   | 4                                     | 34.47                                 |
| ECLGS 1.0                             | ECLGS 1.0                             | 96740                                 | 3674.72                               |
| ECLGS EXTENSION                       | 1.0                                   | 97784                                 | 3875.08                               |
| TOTAL                                 | TOTAL                                 | 199569                                | 19686.88                              |
| Grand Total                           | Grand Total                           | 203180                                | 22015.82                              |

- viii. On  28 th  June  2021,  the  Government  announced  a  stimulus package  to  boost  diverse  sectors  of  economy  affected  by
2. COVID-19  pandemic  and  provide  impetus  for  growth  and employment measures. The package comprises a total of 17 measu res in three broad categories, which included 'Economic relief from Pandemic, with special focus on health and reviving travel  and  tourism  sectors'  and  'Impetus  for  Growth  and employment'.
- ix. With  a  view  to  prepare  for  a  post-COVID  19  revival,  the Ministry has formulated and issued detailed operational guidelines for Covid safety and hygiene for hotels, restaurants, B&Bs/Homestays and Tourism Service Providers on 08.06.2020 to facilitate smooth resumption of business.
- x. An initiative called SAATHI (System for Assessment, Awareness  &  Training  for  Hospitality  Industry)  has  been developed  for  effective  implementation  of  Guidelines/SOPs issued with reference to COVID-19  and  beyond  for  safe operations of Hotels, restaurants, B&Bs and other units.
- xi. Validity of approval or certification of hotels and other accommodation units whose project approval/re-approval and classification/re-classification have expired/were likely to expire was extended up to 31 st  March 2022
- xii. With an aim to incentivize stakeholders in the  Tourism industry, the Guidelines for the scheme of Market Development Assistance (MDA) for providing financial support to  stakeholders  for  the  promotion  of  Domestic  Tourism  have been modified to enhance the scope and reach of the scheme, so  as  to  provide  maximum  benefits  to  the  stakeholders. Additional promotional activities have been incorporated including online promotions and the extent of financial assistance permissible has been enhanced. The Guidelines of the Marketing Development Assistance Programme under the Overseas Promotion and Publicity Scheme has been modified to  enhance  the  scope  and  reach  of  the  scheme,  so  as  to provide maximum benefits to the stakeholders in the tourism industry.
7. For  the  purpose  of  restarting  inbound  tourism  and  attracting foreign tourists in the country, Government of India extended first 5 lakh visas to the foreign tourists from potential tourism markets, free of cost. The benefit of free of charge visa will be available only once per tourist during the issuance of the first
- xiii. 5 lakh tourist visas.
- xiv. Owing to the situation which arose out of COVID-19 pandemic, Ministry of Tourism in consultation with Ministry of Health  &  Family  Welfare  issues  guidelines/directions  to  the Tourism  Stakeholders,  Hotels  and  Restaurants  to  facilitate smooth resumption of business.
- xv. Ministry of Home Affairs has restored e-Tourist Visa for foreign nationals  of  165  countries. Also, after  having  recognized  the increased  vaccination  coverage  across  the  globe  and  in consultation  with  the  stakeholders,  the  Government  of  India resumed scheduled commercial international passenger services to/from India w.e.f. 27 th  March 2022.
- xvi. To  revive  the  Tourism  Industry  from  the  Covid-19  impact, Ministry of Tourism is running the "Loan Guarantee Scheme for Covid  Affected  Tourism  Service  Sector  (LGSCATSS)",  under which,  loan  upto  Rs.10.00  lakh  is  extended  to  each  Tour Operators/Travel Agents/Tourist Transport Operators approved/recognized by the Ministry of Tourism, upto Rs.1.00 lakh  is  extended  to  each  Regional  Tourist  Guide/Incredible India  Tourist  Guide  approved/recognized  by  the  Ministry  of Tourism and Tourist Guides approved/ recognized by the State Govt./UT Administration.

Purpose of the LGSCATSS is to provide guarantee coverage for the loans provided by the Scheduled Commercial Banks to the above  mentioned  beneficiaries,  to  discharge  their  liabilities and restart their business affected due to Covid-19 pandemic. Validity  of  the  said  scheme  is  till  31.03.2023  or  till  the guarantee  of  Rs.250.00  crores  are  issued  under  the  scheme, whichever  is  earlier  and  is  applicable  to  all  eligible  loans sanctioned under the scheme on or after 04.10.2021 (issuance No guarantee fee will be charged from the MLIs by NCGTC for the credit  facilities  provided  under  the  Scheme.  The  scheme  is of LGSCATSS  guidelines by NCGTC) till 31.03.2023. operational through 18 scheduled Commercial Banks.

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