Unshackle food industry from multiple licence regime: NITI Ayog CEO

NITI  Ayog CEO Amitabh Kant (In the middle) launching the India Food Services Report 2019 at New Delhi on Thursday

By India News Stream Correspondent

New Delhi: NITI Ayog CEO Amitabh Kant has said that the restaurant and hotel industry which was a strong driver of economic growth should be unshackled from the multiple licences requirement for starting and running the business.

Launching the India Food Services Report 2019 here last evening, Mr Kant said the NITI Ayog would soon start a practice of ranking and naming and shaming the permissions required for opening a restaurant or a hotel so that states were encouraged to ensure ease of doing business in this sector easy, just like the Government did in the case of make in India in which states were made to compete with one another.

The Report prepared  by Nationa Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) , says that India’s food services industry was the largest in the service sector in the country after retail and insurance and was 20 times of the film industry, 4.7 times of hotels and 1.5 times of the pharmaceutical sector.The industry’s market size was at INR 4,23,865 crore in 2018-19 which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9% to reach INR 5,99,782 crore by 2022-23.

Noting that India was the 7th largest travel and tourism economy in the world according to the World Travel and Tourism Council, Mr Kant said promotion of food businesses can boost tourism. India should capitalize on the diversity that the country has to offer, as food hubs, envisaged as experience centres can serve as places for experiencing local and regional cuisines as part of a larger culture., he said

He said he would soon be sending the India Food Services Report 2019 to chief secretaries of states, as the subject feel in states’ domain, with a strong pitch to act on sorting out the problems faced by the industry.

Rahul Singh, President, NRAI,  in his remark said “The Indian Restaurant Industry employed 7.3 million people in 2018-19. The organized food service sector, which is only 35%of the total market, contributed a whopping INR 18,000 crore as way of taxes in 2018-19. The number is expected to more than double if the unorganised sector becomes organised.”

Introducing the trade report to the audience, Mr. Samir Kuckreja, Past President and Trustee, NRAI said, “NRAI IFSR 2019 is an in-depth research study which maps out the scale and impact of India’s food services sector. This report is crucial for the industry to garner the necessary support and recognition from the government and its agencies for providing a fillip for consistent and sustained growth.

While the food services industry has seen a steady growth over last three years, the report reveals that the industry has its fair share of roadblocks and challenges like high real estate and manpower costs, inadequate supply chain infrastructure, financing issues and majorly policy formulation. The mail aim of the report is to aid entrepreneurs and investors take informed decisions and unite the industry under one banner.

The 4th edition of NRAI research study mapping trends, opportunities and challenges of the restaurant sector in India- is a comprehensive compilation of data on India’s food service sector gathered from in-depth interactions with over 130 restaurant CEOs and 3500 consumers across 24 cities in India.

The mega launch of the trade report in Delhi saw the partcipation of leading figures from the Indian Food Industry such as Pratik Pota from Domino’s, Riyaaz Amlani from Social, Kabir Suri from Mamagoto, Priyank Sukhija from Lord of the Drinks, Nitin Saluja from Chaayos, Rohit Khattar from Indian Accent, Sharad Batra from Cafe Delhi Heights, Kabir Advani from Berco’s, Sam Chopra from Carl’s Jr., Vinod Gulati from Gulati’s, Rajesh Chugh from Nizam’s, Sagar Daryani from Wow! Momo, Aseem Grover from Big Chill, Manpreet Singh from Zen, Varun Tuli from Yum Yum Cha, Thomas Fenn from Mahabelly amongst others.

Founded in 1982, NRAI represents the interests of 500000+ restaurants, an industry valued INR 4,23,865 crores.
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