By M.V.A. Kumar
DOHA: As India relaxed its visa regulations, which reportedly resulted in a 238 percent surge in tourist arrivals to the country, a visiting investment delegation was here to woo Qatari nationals and non-resident Indians to invest in India’s $120bn tourism industry.
India’s travel and tourism sector is projected to grow 7.5 percent annually. In 2014, the country’s tourism industry contributed Rs7.64 trillion (QR416bn) and 36.7 million jobs to the national economy, according to a World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) report.
It was tipped to contribute Rs8.22 trillion, or 7 percent, of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015 along with 37.4 million jobs, which amounts to almost 9 percent of India’s total employment.
Addressing a meeting hosted by Indian Business and Professional Network (IBPN) in Doha on Sunday, the visiting officials also drove home the point that the present Indian government had every intention of removing all bureaucratic hurdles to make investor participation in this promising sector smooth.
Nandinee Kalita, Director of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and Varun Sood of Invest India, the country’s national investment promotion agency, and I R V Rao, Asistant Director of India Tourism, were in Doha to woo Qatari and non-resident Indian investors and also invite them to attend India Tourism Investors’ Summit 2016, which will be held Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi from September 21-23.
They said Qatari investors had shown keen interest in investing in tourism infrastructure, particularly in the hospitality sector. While answering a question on a ballpark return on investment (ROI) or internal rate of return (IRR) in India’s tourism and hospitality sector, Sood admitted that it was difficult to arrive at an accurate figure as it would have to cover everything from a modest restaurant or small hotel to a large project costing between $100m and $500m.
However, he said the authorities concerned had arrived at 13.4 percent as the average IRR for new projects in the sector.
Prior to the meeting, the delegation met Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) officials and members of Qatari Businessmen Association (QBA) and described the response to the response to their presentation on investment opportunities in Indian tourism sector as extremely good. They were quick to admit that all discussions were at a preliminary stage.
During the presentation by Invest India on investment opportunities in tourism and other sectors in India, potential investors were reassured of the favourable investment climate in India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is actively involved in steering India towards tourism growth.
During the open forum, potential NRI investors, who expressed scepticism about lapses occurring between government policy and implementation, were reassured that the federal government would take full responsibility for ‘bureaucratic risks,’ an allusion to delays in decision-making by the country’s bureaucracy.
The officials also said that because the present Indian federal government enjoyed single-party majority, investors could be assured of consistency and continuation in the tourism and investment policies. It was also mentioned that there was more interaction and co-ordination between the federal and certain state governments to ensure hassle-free execution of tourism projects.
Outgoing Indian Ambassador Sanjiv Arora and IBPN President, KM Varghese, and General Secretary Yasir Nainar were among those who addressed the meeting. IBPN has offered to facilitate B2B meetings with Indian officials for Qatari and NRI investors as well as make arrangements for the travel and stay of delegates travelling to New Delhi to attend the summit.
The Peninsula
