AARA lauds CM Himanta's assurance to boost F&B sector in Assam

GUWAHATI: A delegation of the AARA (All Assam Restaurant Association) has welcomed the assurance given by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to address the issues being faced by the people engaged in the sector. The Association delegation was led by its president Atul Lahkar. The other members of the panel were AARA secretary Manjita Kalita Choudhury and members Ranbir Kaur and Romeo Seth.

The meeting with the Chief Minister dwelt on five main issues. The AARA memorandum to the CM stated, "We would like to state that our Industry was hit the hardest because of the nature of our business. We hope to revive our business and continue contributing to the economy of the State; and thus put in front of you a proposal which will allow us to recover losses faster.

"Recognize F&B (Food & Beverage) as an industry and incentivize the existing and also the new players.

"Guwahati has now been labeled as a 'Smart City'. We request you to allow the malls, cinema halls. basic amenities and restaurants to operate till 2 am. By doing so, we can encourage a new segment of customers eventually depicting that night life is safe in Guwahati, thereby automatically improving the socio-economic condition of the State.

"Low/Nil interest collateral free loan for minimum five years to tide over the crisis.

"Develop a standard at par online delivery software with the help of AMTRON through which we can have our own model of delivery for the existing and also the new restaurants.

"The current operators charge huge margins due to the huge nationwide expenses; and thus are not a profitable model In spite of the huge margins that the restaurants are forced to give as deep discounts. The new app will also boost employment generation for our region.

"Along with the Assam Tourism Department, we would like to conduct a 'Yearly Food Festival' in the month of December. This joint collaboration will allow us to be compared with the national-level festivals which can have the capacity to generate and boost Tourism."

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