PANAJI
The State Budget is expected to be announced next week and various industries, organisations and institutions have come up with their expectations and appeals on the budget. National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), Goa chapter’s head Prahlad Sukhtankar lists expectations from the restaurant industry from the upcoming state budget.
Pointing to the excise licence timing, Sukhtankar said, “We request the government to modify the conditions in the State excise licence norms to allow restaurants to be open up to 12 midnight from 11 pm, which is the present licence condition. By extending it by just an hour, the State government would benefit from increased tax revenue. It will encourage compliance and discourage corruption.”
Sukhtankar added, “The alteration will also improve consumer experience, by allowing them to enjoy meals leisurely for a longer duration. Finally, it will boost the hospitality sector, because one additional hour of operation will attract more customers leading to increased revenue and growth for the industry.”
The NRAI Goa chapter head appealed to the government to create linkages between the Goan farmers and restaurants to source local produce directly from them.
“Currently, the State Horticulture Department facilitates the sale of such produce to people in general. Restaurants would be happy to purchase the produce from the government at subsidised rates, passing on the direct benefit to farmers and better pricing for restaurants which would ultimately benefit the consumer experience,” he said.
On the point of rationalising PWD’s commercial water bills, Sukhtankar briefed that currently, five-star hotels pay Rs 30 per cubic metre for water consumption. In comparison, standalone restaurants, with air conditioning and without air conditioning, pay Rs 35 and 25 per cubic metre respectively.
“There is a need to change this archaic rule. From the water consumption perspective, hotels obviously consume more water than restaurants. But the restaurants under the current tariff, pay a higher rate per cubic metre compared to 5-star hotels. We seek parity in this regard and request the government to put the restaurants in the Rs 25 per cubic metre bracket,” he requested.
Sukhtankar also asked for relaxation in sound law. Welcoming the initiative by the Chief Minister’s Office to request Centre for relaxation in loud music norms post 10 pm, he hoped that the Central government would give a favourable response on this.
