The BJP committed its support to the restaurant industry at a meeting with the NRAI in Delhi.

BJP was represented by its Delhi State President, Mr. Satish Upadhyay while the NRAI was represented by senior members Ajay Kaul, Riyaaz Amlani, Dev Amritesh, Vikram Bakshi, Rahul Singh, Ashish Kapur, Joydeep, AD Singh, Rohan Jetley, Monish Gujral, Debashish Das Gupta and Kabir Advani among others.

The NRAI presented the key issues and challenges faced by the foodservice industry to the BJP president.

Mr. Rahul Singh, Secretary, NRAI said in the presentation, “In an already heavily licensed and overtaxed industry, the extremely high food inflation, coupled with ever increasing taxations and other operational factors, are significant burdens for the industry. The restaurant industry has been a significant contributor to the country’s overall economy. To combat the current framework, we want to work together with policy makers and ease the process and a single window clearance system to obtain the license. It is one of the largest industries in the country in terms of employment and revenue generation. A robust restaurant industry will result in stronger economic gains as well”.

He further added “We extend our support to the authorities to streamline this process and seek their co-operation to simplify the issues”.

Responding to the presentation, Mr. Upadhyay said, “BJP recognizes the growing and inclusive role of the Restaurant industry in strengthening the country’s economy. Its growth will help the country’s economy and boost up other sectors like tourism, food processing and agriculture. The industry also employs a large number of youth and is poised to expand further. We will solve the issues and will help industry become more organized and revenue generating. We plan to have single window clearance mechanism so that industry does not waste time in procurement of necessary approvals and can focus on making services more efficient for the consumer.”

Riyaaz Amlani, President, NRAI is his thank you speech said, “We are delighted to hear that BJP, recognizes the contribution of the restaurant industry towards not just employment and revenue generation but also in making cities more vibrant and liveable, Single Window clearances will go a long way in providing a boost to the Restaurant Industry and will help in making New Delhi one of the leading cities in the world. On par with New York, London, Singapore and Dubai. We welcome the efforts made by the Modi government to create ease of doing business in India and are looking forward to “Ache Din” for the foodservice industry.

“To combat the current framework, we want to work together with policy makers and ease the process and a single window clearance system to obtain the license,” Rahul Singh, NRAI.

“We plan to have single window clearance mechanism so that industry does not waste time and can focus on making services more efficient for the consumer,” Satish Upadhyay, BJP.

The restaurant industry has been a significant contributor to the country’s overall economy in many ways – from employment to tax revenues, to being a buyer of goods and services from several other industries and sectors which are dependent on and are positively impacted by it. The Food Services Industry has grown significantly to INR 247,680 crore (USD 48 billion), and the sector contributes about seven times more than the hotel sector in the country’s GDP and is the third largest contributor after retail and insurance in the service segment. The industry is poised to see a phenomenal growth, with the organized sector growing at an expected CAGR of 16-17% to reach a size of Rs. 145,770 crore (USD 28 billion) by 2018, and the chain market at an expected CAGR of 21% to reach Rs. 33,250 crore by 2018.

The restaurant industry’s contributions are multi-dimensional. It engages more than 5 million people directly and 7-8 million people indirectly. Employment covers unskilled, fully skilled and specially abled people. The industry has also encouraged growth and value addition in other areas like agriculture, food processing, beverage, commercial kitchen and equipment, real estate and supply chain. The organised sector of the restaurant industry also contributes to the fiscal wealth of the country by contributing an estimated INR 11,500-11,900 crore (USD 2200-2300 million) in taxes, which is expected to reach INR 24,600-25,000 crore (USD 4700-4800 million) by 2018.