Industry leaders in India argue that easing regulatory burdens and implementing digital, risk-based compliance measures are essential to accelerate investment, enhance hotel quality, and unlock the sector’s full tourism potential by 2047.
India’s hotel sector is at a point where demand is rising faster than the supply of quality branded rooms, and that gap, industry leaders argue, can only be narrowed if the regulatory burden is eased. KB Kachru, president of the Hotel Association of India and chairman for South Asia at Radisson Hotel Group, says the industry can play a far larger role in tourism growth if investment becomes quicker, clearer and more predictable.
The case for reform is not simply about cutting red tape. Hotels in India sit at the intersection of accommodation, food service, entertainment, tourism and events, which means they are subject to a dense web of licences, inspections and taxes from multiple levels of government. Kachru argues that the sector is still often treated as a real estate play rather than essential tourism infrastructure, even though it generates jobs across a wide range of skills and supports transport, agriculture, retail and local services. NITI Aayog has previously said a hotel project can face around 50 approvals over its life cycle, underscoring the scale of the problem.
Recent government moves suggest the issue is gaining attention. According to reports on the Ministry of Tourism’s reforms, officials are pushing a more digital, self-declaration-based framework for hotel classification, with some inspection requirements being reduced and certain approvals being delinked. The aim is to make compliance less cumbersome and to create a more investor-friendly environment, while still preserving standards on safety, food and operations. Industry groups have also called for a genuine single-window system, rather than a series of online forms that still require repeated data entry and follow-up across departments.
The operational side remains equally important. Hotels still have to navigate requirements linked to fire safety, food safety, excise, labour law, environmental clearances and municipal rules, and compliance specialists say the answer is not to remove all oversight but to make it risk-based and more intelligent. That means using self-certification, digital reporting and periodic audits where appropriate, while keeping stricter scrutiny for areas tied to public safety. The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India says its own consultations with more than 500 stakeholders point to broad support for such changes, as part of a wider push to help India build a much larger tourism economy by 2047.
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