Infrastructure status to Hotel projects

The Centre has extended 'infrastructure' status for all hotel projects, fulfilling a long-pending demand of large hoteliers. This means projects with a capital cost of Rs 200 crore or more will be able to access cheaper funds. The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) said factoring in the contemporary trends in development costs. This will entail further capital investments of Rs 1.25-lakh crore. Infrastructure status will help hoteliers get loans at low interest rates with a longer repayment period. Hitherto, the hotel industry got bank loans for only up to 10 years. Now, loans can run up to 15 years.