Hyderabad: The Minister for Tourism and Excise Jupally Krishna Rao said that the government was aiming to increase revenue from tourism. He clarified that the government which has continued the policy of the previous government has not taken any measures aimed at increasing the revenue from Excise.
Participating in a debate on the State budget in the Assembly, the Minister said that unlike the previous government, the Congress government has increased transparency, as there was close monitoring on activities including liquor manufacturing. He maintained that the government has no intention to add revenue through change in the excise policy.
While on the other hand, Jupally said that the government was hopeful that the Tourism sector would contribute to at least 10 per cent of the total revenue generation of the State. In this endeavour, he reiterated that the events like Miss World were being hosted in Hyderabad. The Minister reiterated that the funds being earmarked for the event were meagre, and that the State would get international recognition.
Challenging the notion, former Minister K T Rama Rao described the hosting of the event in Hyderabad as a clear case of ‘double standards’, as the Congress government has demeaned the international sports event Formula-E. He wondered how the Miss World event which lost its importance at the global level would provide leverage to Telangana for getting investments.
