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IN THE NEWS

Industrygives thumbs up to infra

boost in Budget

ETW Staff outlay for the ministry of civil
Mumbai aviation to `4,086 crore in
FY2018-19 from `2,543 crore in
In a bid to put the flagging rev- FY2017-18, which is in line with
enues of the national trans- the government’s focus on de-
porter back on track, finance velopment of infrastructure.
minister Arun Jaitley recently AAI, the nodal authority for
announced a capital expendi- owing and managing airports,
ture allocation of `1.48 cr for the has been undertaking airport
railways, the highest ever. How- infrastructure up-gradation
ever, no major new trains were for last few years. Given the
announced and the focus was ambitious target of increasing
more on modernisation and capacity by five times, AAI is
passenger safety. The 92-year- expected to play a greater role
old practice of a separate Rail- and increase the pace of infra-
way budget was discontinued structure development. The
last year and was merged with budget proposal of leveraging
the Union Budget. lay of `2.04 trillion and 10 move towards solar energy and Additionally, the emphasis AAI’s healthy balance sheet is
Jaitley said redevelopment prominent tourist sites to be de- operation green are welcome. on the developing 10 tourism expected to generate sizeable
of 600 major railway stations veloped as iconic tourist spots. However, `60 cr to push airport sites into iconic sites and en- resources for AAI to under-
had been taken up. All railway National Highways exceeding capacity is too little and nothing hancing tourist amenities at 110 take required capacity
stations with more than 25,000 9,000-km will be completed in concrete has been done to com- Adarsh monument sites will not enhancement initiatives.”
footfall would have escalators, 2018-19 and regional air connec- bat pollution. The lack of relief only contribute to more interna- Rakshit Desai, managing di-
CCTVs and Wi-Fi facilities set tivity scheme shall connect 56 in taxes to companies with a tional footfalls but also hugely rector, FCM Travel Solutions,
up. Moreover, a specialised rail- unserved airports and 31 un- turnover of below `250 cr and augment the domestic tourism Indian subsidiary of FCTG,
way university will come up at served helipads. taxing long term capital gains revenue of the country, in the Australia, said, “Introduction
Vadodara, which will serve as Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C), Ya- are also in the negatives.” years to come. The expansion of of several initiatives to improve
the training centre for man- tra.com, said, “We are happy that Simon Fiquet, general man- Swachh Bharat Mission and infrastructure facilities in
power required for high-speed the budget has laid great empha- ager, Southeast Asia and India, launch of Operation Green will Union Budget 2018 bodes well
railway projects. The Railway sis on infrastructure develop- Expedia, said, “The government also build a clean and green In- for travel and tourism sector
capex has been pegged at `1.48 ment to boost tourism. The con- has presented a budget that dia for attracting more tourists and will help reinforce India’s
lakh cr , up from `1.31 lakh cr tinued focus on UDAN, railway charts an all-inclusive develop- and delivering an international image as a tourist destination
last year. infrastructure, building tourist ment plan for sectors pegged to experience. The budget with a internationally. Significant in-
The government has allo- corridors, enhancing connectiv- be future growth drivers for the holistic development outlay, vestments to address concerns
cated `11,000 crore to the ity by starting operations in 56 country. The budget continued showcases the government’s around connectivity with impe-
Mumbai rail network and unserved airports reflects the its strong focus on strengthen- strong commitment to build tus on development of high-
`17,000 cr for the Bengaluru government’s commitment to ing, expanding and upgrading India as a robust tourism ways and arterial roads, rail-
metro. Also, 150 km of addi- the tourism sector. Airport ca- the tourism infrastructure in In- economy.” ways and airport
tional suburban railway net- pacity enhancement will boost dia. In aviation - rounded devel- Harsh Jagnani, vice presi- infrastructure is bound to push
works will be set up in Ben- tourist flows and strengthen con- opment has been targeted - dent and sector head corporate inbound arrivals. A dedicated
galuru at the cost of `17,000 cr. nectivity to a large extent. The from increased regional connec- ratings, ICRA, commented on focus to promote seaplane ac-
The government will even elim- creation of 10 prominent tourist tivity and access through re- the budget, “The Budget has tivities in the country, along
inate 4267 unmanned rail cross- sites will lead to an escalation in gional airports and expansion of laid emphasis on developing with development of heritage
ing in broad gauge in two years. tourism and is very welcome. We UDAN scheme to Airports Au- the airport infrastructure in sites and iconic tourist destina-
In aviation, the Airport Au- were hopeful that the govern- thority of India bolstering a five the country which is lagging tions will further enhance the
thority of India (AAI) has 124 ment would bring ATF under times capacity expansion, to ac- the robust growth in air traffic appeal of India as a destination
airports and it is proposed to in- GST so as to reduce airline costs commodate one billion trips a (passenger traffic is expected of choice. ‘Namami Gange’ will
crease the number by at least and keep fares low to ensure con- year. Railways and Roadways to cross 300 mn passengers in provide further fillip to reli-
five times one billion trips a tinued growth in Indian air travel have seen a major outlay for ex- FY2018 after having crossed gious tourism from both do-
year. Moreover, `60 cr has been market.” pansion and upgradation, be it 265 mn passengers in FY2017). mestic and international trav-
allocated to kickstart the initia- Ajay K Bakaya, managing wi-fi for entertainment or set- Government’s plan to increase ellers. Overall, it is a budget
tive. The UDAN Scheme will director, Sarovar Hotels & Re- ting up cctv cameras for better the capacity by five times is a with a developmental agenda
connect 64 unconnected air- sorts, said, “The positives in the surveillance , ease of travel positive development and is and could have benefited the
ports across the country. budget are rail infrastructure, through modernisation of toll, targeted to meet the future air tourism sector little more with
Apart from aviation, 99 Bharatmala project, impetus to use of disaster resilient infra- traffic growth in the country.” announcements around simpli-
cities have been selected for farmers, Heritage City Develop- structure and safety first policy He added, "The budget has fied GST along with detailed
smart cities project with an out- ment, and healthcare. The for security. increased the planned capital FAQs for the travel industry.”

EXPRESS TRAVELWORLD 5
February 2018