State govt eases regulations for businesses at popular tourist locations

Business establishments at popular tourist spots in the state have been given respite from the cumbersome procedure of renewing their permits every year, HT reports.

Business establishments at popular tourist spots in the state have been given respite from the cumbersome procedure of renewing their permits every year.

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Now, they need to apply for fresh licences only once every five years.

Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan took a decision to this effect on Thursday.

The modified rules will benefit motels, hotels, restaurants, shops and other establishments that are part of any recognised tourism centre.

Such establishments need permits from local and district administration, labour, police as well as food and drugs departments.

In case of a restaurant, the proprietor in question needs to seek 48 permits and get them renewed every year.

“This procedure is a major deterrent in the development of tourism in the state. We need to verify whether so many permits are actually needed,” said Chavan at a meeting also attended by his deputy Ajit Pawar, tourism minister Chhagan Bhujbal and industry minister Narayan Rane.

Tourism is big on the government’s agenda because the state has a 720-km coastline that has not been fully tapped for financial gains yet.

Chavan decided that the Konkan region, in which a significant length of state’s coastline falls, would get maximum benefit of the state’s tourism policy.

Konkan’s Sindhudurg district that shares a border with Goa will get extended perks for the next 10 years.

In another decision, it was decided that industrial rates, which are less than commercial rates, would be charged for water at tourism centres.