Industry & Economy
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Budget
Free baggage allowance for travellers hiked
Our Bureau
New Delhi
,
Feb. 3
WHILE the Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, may have provided little for the civil aviation sector in the Interim Budget 2004-05, there are some sops that are likely to give a fillip to in-bound and out-bound travel.
Realising that Indians are compulsive shoppers especially when they travel abroad, the Finance Minister has raised the free baggage allowance for international travellers to Rs 25,000 from Rs 12,000.
In effect, this means that any Indian returning from abroad can bring in certain personal goods worth Rs 25,000 without having to pay any duty on them.
Besides, Customs duty on such baggage has been reduced to 40 per cent from the existing 50 per cent.
Welcoming the move, the President of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), Mr Subhash Goyal, said that raising the free baggage allowance was likely to see a 5-10 per cent increase in Indians travelling abroad.
Similarly, the Finance Minister's announcement of creating four global convention centres at Delhi, Mumbai, Goa and Rajasthan through a public-private sector partnership is also expected to see more conferences being held in India.
"The announcements will surely give a boost to both in-bound and out-bound tourists. In addition, the decision to have world-class convention centres could see people holding conferences in India rather than choosing locations such as Singapore," the President of The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Mr Balbir Mayal, said.
The IATO President also suggested that world-class convention centres be set up in other cities including Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Bodhgaya.
The announcement of converting Jaipur into an international airport could eventually see the airport in Rajasthan becoming an alternative hub to the airport in Delhi, a source said.
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