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Why in the news?

Open Villages for Tourists

Opportunities and paradigms of the tourism sector

• With a share of 1.62 percent in international tourism receipts, India is ranked 15th in the globe. In 2015, India welcomed 8.03 million foreign tourists, an increase of 4.5 percent over the previous year.
• After gems, jewellery, and clothing, it is the third greatest foreign exchange earner (Economic Survey of India, 2018).
• In the next five years, India hopes to generate 100 million employment and attract 40 million foreign tourists through tourism (Union Minister K J Alphons on 23 October 2017). India receives 14.4 million international tourists each year.
• However, due to environmental fragility (e.g., a ban on green felling), tourism is not always a private sector-friendly investment in the Indian Himalayan Region.

Government initiative for promotion of tourism:

• Tax incentives: In India, new hotels in the 2-star level and higher are eligible for an investment-linked deduction under Section 35 AD of the Income Tax Act. Land is not eligible for a 100% deduction on capital investments.
• State Incentives: State governments provide incentives such as subsidised land costs, stamp duty relaxation, exemption on land sale/lease, power tariff incentives, concessional rate of interest on loans, investment subsidies/tax incentives, backward areas subsidies, and special incentive packages for mega projects. Incentives are also provided for projects in special areas such as the North East, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
• Ministry of Tourism incentives include: assistance with big revenue-generating projects; support for Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in infrastructure development, such as viability gap funding; and schemes for service provider capacity building.
• In 2016, the ‘Swachh Paryatan’ mobile application was released, allowing individuals to report any cleanliness issues at various tourist locations across the country.
• Multilingual tourist: In 2016, the Ministry of Tourism introduced a 24-hour toll-free multilingual tourist helpline in 12 languages, which may be reached by dialling toll-free numbers.