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Maharashtra unveils ambitious tourism policy for 2024; rural sector in focus
The policy identifies key areas to boost tourism's contribution to Maharashtra's goal of becoming a $1 trillion economy by 2028
Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has unveiled a comprehensive tourism policy for 2024, embracing the concept of 'workcation' alongside the promotion of rural life, films, caravans, and medical tourism. The state cabinet recently approved the policy, which aims to attract ₹100,000 crore in investment and generate 1.8 million jobs over the next decade.
The policy identifies key areas to boost tourism's contribution to Maharashtra's goal of becoming a $1 trillion economy by 2028. It focuses on developing robust infrastructure and partnering with various stakeholders, including tour operators and MICE (meetings, incentives, conference, exhibition) organisers, to double revenue generation in their respective sectors.
Drawing inspiration from the COVID-19 pandemic, when many embraced remote work in non-urban settings, the policy promotes the concept of 'workcation' — a blend of work and vacation. "The concept emerged during the COVID-19 lockdown when people, especially from the IT sector, set up camp at vacation destinations while continuing to work for their respective offices," explained a tourism department official.
The policy categorises tourism projects into A, B, and C tiers based on size, offering incentives such as GST waivers, electricity rate concessions, and stamp duty reductions. It also proposes cash prizes for innovative products and revival of cultural and artistic customs.
"The policy's thrust will be on agri, caravan, and adventure tourism," said an official from the tourism department. "Projects will receive incentives including up to ₹10 lakh for commendable research work."
Rural development is a key focus, with plans to promote local culture, art, cuisine, and festivals. The policy document states, "Rural tourism and homestays will be part of the promotion. Following the Mumbai Festival model, other key cities like Nagpur will organise their own festivals, in addition to plans for monsoon and Ganesh festivals to boost tourism."
Tourism has been identified as a crucial sector to drive the state's GDP growth from 9% to 14%, aligning with the $1 trillion economy target. The policy offers substantial incentives for various tourism-related projects:
- Up to ₹20 crore or 20% of eligible capital investment for hotels, motels, youth hostels, youth clubs, log huts, and cottages
- 15% of capital investment or up to ₹15 crore for restaurants, food kiosks, food courts, MICE centres, amusement parks, golf courses, unity malls, cultural centres, multiplexes, handicraft shops, theatres, and art galleries
Additional incentives include:
- SGST reimbursement from 50% to 100% depending on project size
- Electricity duty/tariff concessions from 50% to 100% based on project scale
- Interest subventions up to 5% on loans ranging from ₹5 crore to ₹25 crore
- Additional FSI of 3 to 5 in Mumbai and up to 4 in the rest of Maharashtra
