 Hotels seek government support
The South India Hotels and Restaurants Association (SIHRA) has presented a memorandum to the Tamil Nadu government to consider increasing the FSI applicable to hotel buildings at par with the IT sector. Presently, IT parks are granted an FSI of 1:3 while hotel buildings are merely given the same FSI as any high-rise building, pointed out its president M P Purushothaman. High cost of land, lack of centrally located land area in key business districts, coupled with the low FSI, are detrimental factors in attracting fresh investments to the hotel sector, he said.
While demand for rooms is increasing in south India and the estimates indicate the need to have more than 4,000 additional rooms in Tamil Nadu alone in the next few years, it is essential that existing hotels be allowed to increase their capacity immediately with enhancement of FSI, Purushothaman said.
States like Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh have noted this requirement and have liberalised their building rules to offer extra FSI to hotel and IT industry, he said. Tamil Nadu is competing with other states to become the No 1 state and should take the lead in enhancing the
FSI.
Chennai currently has 75 approved hotels consisting of approximately 5,300 rooms. The demand for rooms is increasing due to the massive expansion and new ventures in the auto sector, IT and ITES industry. The demand is likely to be around 9,300 rooms by 2010.
There is a clear need for additional 4,000 rooms in various categories within the next 48 months. The additional rooms can be built to the extent of 1,000 rooms as expansion within the existing hotels if the FSI for hotels is increased on a par with the IT industrial parks, while another 3,000 rooms can be built in and around Chennai, Purushothaman said. The additional FSI, if granted to the existing profitable hotels, can come up quickly since extra investment is not an issue for them, he felt.
In the last few years, almost all the regional airports located in Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kochi and Thiruvanandapuram have become international airports, following the arrival of several leading world airlines. Due to the growing business of IT, ITES and auto sector, the arrival of foreign technicians has improved multifold. Almost all of these flights land and take off around midnight. "Those who arrive into our cities and those whose lifestyle needs late night entertainment, need to be looked at sympathetically. Our domestic regulations on the closure of the bars at midnight does put a lot of impediment in the normal lifestyle pattern of foreigners. While SIHRA fully supports the government's efforts in maintaining law and order, it appeals to the government to grant flexible timings to operate the bars in approved hotels at least till 2 a.m. This is a long-term requirement to cater to the needs of foreigners as part of our globalisation drive," Purushothaman added.
A recent survey by NASSCOM has stated that IT and ITES industry are driving the higher occupancy of the hospitality sector apart from realty and telecom sectors. The survey highlighted the fact that during the current financial year, almost 8,900 hotel rooms are booked per day in all the metros in India. Yet, there is a shortage of good accommodation because of the tremendous inflow of IT and ITES companies and services in cities like Chennai, Bangalore and
Hyderabad.
India has now become the favoured destination for business and leisure travel. The industry has brought in revenue of around $ 6.9 billion (over Rs 31,050 crore) from in-bound foreign tourists which is double what it was in 2002. The forex in-flow was 36 per cent more, compared to the previous year. The industry that brings in such healthy results certainly needs the support of the governments, he added.
The government should carefully work out policies to attract major multinationals like Nokia, Hyundai, Saint Gobain, BMW, Volkswagen, Toyota, Ford, World Bank and other MNCs who want to expand their business activities in Chennai, Purushothaman said, adding that the demand for more hotel rooms and allied services has to be met. The government should promote arrival of more tourists and help the multinationals set up the joint ventures, he felt.
SIHRA has presented memoranda on the above issues to the governments of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala too to favourably consider relaxing the rules depending on the specific requirements like extended bar-timings, rationalisation in tax and to grant the hospitality industry status, said R Rangachari, secretary general, SIHRA.
R Rangaraj |
