Uttarakhand's hoteliers and restaurant owners are looking to the upcoming Union Budget for measures that could give the industry much-needed respite.

According to industry representatives, growth has been slow for years due to ongoing difficulties and growing operating expenses.

Restaurant owners, in particular, are calling for a reduction in commercial gas and electricity tariffs, arguing that lower energy costs would significantly ease financial pressure.

Anand Kanti, restaurant owner, Tea Bistro says, "The most expensive inputs in the running of a restaurant are gas and electricity. The commercial rates for these should be reduced, which will help us run our business.."

Hoteliers note that last year's reduction in GST rates did not provide much respite. Instead, they claim that the removal of the input tax credit has increased expenses.

"We have a lot of hopes pinned on the upcoming Budget. Recently, the government brought about certain changes in the GST imposed on hotels – they primarily discontinued input tax credit. Due to that, our costs have risen by almost 15 to 18 percent, because our input tax credit is closed. We have appealed to the government, earlier also, through our Associations that input tax credit should be resumed..", Ashish Goyal, hotelier, Mussorie:

Since Uttarakhand is frequently hit by natural disasters, the hospitality industry is also pleading with the government to make loans more accessible, claiming that this would boost resilience and strengthen infrastructure.

Hoteliers are additionally demanding a GST holiday during periods of natural calamities.

Pallav Nagar, hotelier, Mussoorie: "The benefits we are seeking from the Budget include government subsidies and easy loans so that we can ourselves fix the infrastructure. Secondly, a lot of times natural disasters occur and we face problems in running our businesses. The government should give a GST tax holiday in these instances and those who have taken a loan should be given relief in interest rates."

Another main demand is improved connectivity; industry participants claim that easier access to destinations would increase tourism throughout the state.

Another hotelier, Ajay Bhargav: "In the upcoming budget, we want the government to focus on connectivity. Along with that, the way disasters have been happening here, we want a special disaster relief fund to be set up so that in the future, if a disaster strikes, we are able to manage it and handle it in a better manner... so that we can come back on track quickly..’’