New Delhi, September: The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), India’s apex body and voice of the hospitality industry, held its 67th Annual General Meeting on 28th Sept 2023 in the capital. During the AGM, the members of the FHRAI unanimously elected Mr Pradeep Shetty – Director, Maharaja Hotels, Mumbai as its President and he will take charge of the office from 1st January 2024. Prior to this, Mr Shetty held the position of Vice President and has been an actively engaged member of the Association for more than a decade. Mr Shetty presently also serves as the President of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI).

With his knowledge in corporate law, along with his deep understanding about the legal and regulatory ecosystem for the tourism and hospitality business, Mr. Shetty has been instrumental in FHRAI’s legal interventions, for almost a decade. The MRP judgement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, CCI’s order against the anti-competitive practices of MakeMyTrip and OYO, the famous Cable TV tariff relief against Broadcasters and the Hon’ble Delhi High Court order staying the CCPA guidelines against levying of service charge are some significant achievements of FHRAI which hold strong imprints of Mr. Shetty’s commitment to fight for the benefit of the hospitality industry.

“In the role of President at FHRAI, I am committed to addressing several pressing priorities with a sense of urgency. We intend to actively engage with the Government for creating a more conducive regulatory framework for the hospitality sector and the long pending request of the sector for granting infrastructure status is top of our agenda. This can be a game changer by facilitating long-term loans at competitive interest rates to accelerate growth in the sector. More stimulus packages and incentives are required from the government to equip the sector to achieve the ambitious target of welcoming 100 million international tourists by 2047, which include a favourable GST regime and ease of Doing Business measures in hospitality,” says Mr Pradeep Shetty.

Among other important challenges of the industry, Mr Shetty has been pursuing concerns over music copyright matters, service charges matters and anti -competitive activities by big tech companies, which are adversely affecting the members of the Federation. 

“I am deeply honoured to take on this role and lead FHRAI, an organization that has played a pivotal role in shaping the hospitality landscape of our country. I thank all the regional associations and Executive Committee members for reposing faith in me. We are committed to advancing the interests of our members and the entire industry. Together, we will strive for excellence, nurture innovation and create a thriving environment for hospitality in India. FHRAI will embark on proactive policy advocacy in the space of online travel, GST rationalization for Restaurants and creation of an energetic environment for the growth of tourism in India through favourable fiscal policies and ease of doing business” concludes Mr Shetty.

The Executive Committee also elected the new ‘Office Bearers’ of FHRAI, who supervise the routine affairs at the Federation. Mr. Surendra Kumar Jaiswal, Mr. K Nagaraju and Mr. T S Walia were elected as the Vice Presidents from Hotel & Restaurant Association of Northern India (HRANI), The South India Hotels & Restaurants Association (SIHRA) and Hotel & Restaurant Association of Eastern India (HRAEI), respectively. Mr DVS Somaraju has been elected as Hony. Treasurer and Mr. Nirav Gandhi as the Hony. Secretary, while Mr. Sudesh Kumar Poddar and Mr. Amarvir Singh will serve as Jt. Hony. Secretaries of the Federation.