“Though the Budget has been gravely disappointing, the extension of ECLGS with additional allocation to the crawling hospitality sector and provisioning an outlay of Rs.2 lakh crore through CGTMSE are the only relief measures provided as part of the Union Budget 2022-23. The special allocation through ECLGS will support the struggling sector to mitigate some of the pandemic-induced challenges and the CGTMSE scheme is expected to facilitate additional credit of Rs 2 lakh crore for micro small enterprises and expand employment opportunities.  This move has come as a result of the multiple representations and extensive meetings FHRAI held with the authorities since the start of the pandemic. The Hon’ble FM acknowledged the massive losses incurred by the sector. However, this is just a drop in the ocean for a sector that has been severely battered. Given the massive damages that decimated the entire sector’s ecosystem, these measures are not adequate to bridge the losses and offer impetus to the hospitality and tourism industry. The number of meetings we held with the Finance Ministry and other ministries led us to believe that they were surely going to announce some sort of specific relief for the industry but it is a huge disappointment that it has not come through. We had requested the Hon’ble FM to allow domestic travel for individuals and corporates to be a deductible expense in their IT returns. Inclusion of Hotels and Tourism related sectors in the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), Infrastructure status and Industry status for the Hospitality industry and allowing Input Tax Credit (ITC) for restaurants. These are equally crucial requirements for the hospitality industry. The industry has been requesting long-term credit facilities in view of the vulnerabilities and the time it would take for businesses to resume normalcy,” says Mr Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President, Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI).