The third largest Hospitality Association in the world and India’s apex hospitality Association - Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) to promote hospitality and related infrastructure in the Union Territory. This is the first time in history that a joint MoU has been signed between an Association of hotels and restaurants and the Government.
The MoU was signed on December 27, 2021 at the Real Estate Summit 2021 jointly organized by the Government of Jammu & Kashmir, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Govt. of India, and National Real Development Council (NAREDCO) at the Jammu Convention Centre.
Thirty-nine MoUs were signed for the development of housing, hotel and commercial projects. Mr Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President represented the hospitality industry at the event and signed the joint MoU for FHRAI.
Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs graced the event which focused on providing an effective platform to showcase potential Real Estate investment opportunities and intensive discussions were held on the policy and regulatory framework. The summit also had the august presence of Shri. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for PMO, Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant Governor of J&K, Durga Shanker Mishra- Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, GoI and various dignitaries from the J&K Tourism Ministry, among others.
“With this MoU, we look forward to strengthening further, the Public-Private partnership in the region to leverage on the enormous potential, the region has to offer for hospitality and tourism. We are hopeful that this will facilitate the J&K Government providing land to FHRAI members for various projects and extending incentives and other benefits as per extant policies and rules. New developments in hospitality will give a strong push to economic growth through increased investments and will create more employment opportunities in the region,” says Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President, FHRAI.
Kohli also participated in a panel discussion titled, ‘Next Destination J&K: Tourism, Films & Entertainment, Logistics, Commercial, Warehousing’. He along with the co-panellists stressed on the need of promoting the region as an untapped destination for the growth in infrastructure, tourism, hospitality and real estate.
