It has also been decided that information and communication technology would be used to make the functioning of Board effective, transparent and investor friendly. Accordingly, a computerized MIS and a separate dedicated website for HDPB would be developed. Investors would apply directly to all concerned Ministries/Departments for various clearances/licenses/NCOs and provide details preferably online to the HDPB Secretariat on a fixed format. The status of these applications would be accessible by the applicants using their USERNAME and PASSWORD to be provided by HDPB.

The concerned Ministries / Departments would regularly update the status of the pending applications and the final decision on this website. The exceptional cases where the applications have not been disposed off within the time limit stipulated would be highlighted and reviewed in the periodic meetings of the Board.

It is expected that with the operationalisation of the HDPB, the multiplicity of clearances and delays in obtaining permissions for hotel projects would be curtailed and approvals would be issued in a time bound manner by all concerned Ministries / Departments / agencies resulting in expeditious implementation of hotel projects and improvement of the hospitality infrastructure.

As per the study of FICCI in 2007 the current demand supply gap of hotel rooms in India is 1, 50,000. The estimated shortage of hotel rooms is 1, 00,000 in budget & 50,000 in luxury categories. Construction of hotels is capital intensive with a long gestation period it is therefore imperative to have investor friendly policies to attract entrepreneurs in this sector streamline the current system for obtaining clearances/ NOCs and provide an effective mechanism for expeditious implementation of Hotel Projects.

Recognizing the importance of the above issues the Union Cabinet recently approved the creation of Hospitality Development & Promotion Board (HDPB). The main function of the board would be to:

• Monitor and facilitate the clearances of Hotel Projects in a time bound manner, both at the Central and state level.

• Review hotel project policies to encourage the growth of hotel / hospitality infrastructure in the country.

• Review and monitor the clearances of hotel projects with the concerned ministries / Departments / authorities by meeting on fixed schedule basis.

• Ensure timely accrual of approvals / clearances / NOCs by the multiple agencies and facilitate the implementation of hotel projects.

The Ministry of Tourism, the Nodal Ministry, issued a notification on February 21, 2011 for setting up of this Board at ‘Central Level’ and the first meeting of the Board was held under the chairmanship of Shri RH Khwaja, Secretary (Tourism), Government of India.