Coronavirus Impact May Render 38 Million Jobless in Indian Tourism Sector: Industry Body

It has also predicted that a near halt in travel and tourism may result in a Rs 10-trillion hit to the country’s economy.

Arnab Dutta

It has also predicted that a near halt in travel and tourism may result in a Rs 10-trillion hit to the country’s economy.

coronavirus impact may render 38 million jobless in indian tourism sector industry body

Tourists at Taj Mahal, in Agra, March 16, 2020. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: With stringent travel restrictions in place and widespread fears keeping people indoors, India’s travel and tourism industry is staring at large-scale job losses. Highlighting the impact of the unfolding crisis, industry body Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH) has approached Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi.

In a letter to the PM, the industry body has urged the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to intervene to minimise the damage. Apart from business loss for the Rs 5-trillion industry, FAITH said the crisis may leave 38 million people (or 70% of all employed directly and indirectly) jobless.

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Further, it has predicted that a near halt in travel and tourism may result in a Rs 10-trillion hit to the country’s economy. “As a result of this pandemic, the Indian tourism industry is looking at pan-Indian bankruptcies, closure of businesses, and mass unemployment,” said FAITH.

With revenue streams drying up, the body has urged the PMO for varied measures. A moratorium on payable equated monthly installments for the next 12 months, loans and working capital from financial institutions, deferment of all statutory dues, including goods and services tax, advance tax payments, provident fund, and Customs duties are its demands. “State government-level excise fees, levies, taxes, power and water charges, bank guarantees should also be deferred,” the letter read.

The article was originally published on Business Standard. You can read it here.

This article went live on March twentieth, two thousand twenty, at fifty-six minutes past two in the afternoon.

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