new delhi the hospitality industry on friday welcomed the governments decision to slash gst on room tariffs of rs 7500 and above from 28 to 18the sharp cut though expected for sometime allowed the stressed industry to heave a sigh of relief amid a negative growth in tourist footfalls for the second quarter in a row with the latest rate cut gst on room tariffswill now be limited to three slabsread alsomid topend hotels to get cheaper from october 1hotel rooms that cost up to rs 1000 will continue to attract zero levy there is also no change in the 12 gst on those priced between rs 1001 and rs 2500 but gst on those that cost between rs 2501 and rs 7500 will be reduced from 18 to 12 providing relief to many travellers who stay inrooms under rs 999 will remain tax free those between rs 1000 and 7499 will be taxed at 12 and rooms above rs 7500 will be taxed at 18speaking to toi former president of the federation of hotel and restaurant associations of india fhrai garish oberoi said this is a welcome step and it is going to act as a stimulus to the hotel industry ahead of the festive seasona demand for lower tax slabs has been a long standing demand of the tourism industry which has argued that indias taxation rates are significantly higher than its neighbouring nations because of which many tourists were preferring to bypass india widening the net for hotels to be charged at 12 gst is a step in the right direction and will help the hospitality business to slightly ease off amongst several pressures reducing the rate for hotels above inr 7500 also bodes well for the industry zubin saxena managing director and vice president operations south asia of radisson hotel group said coupled with the finance ministers announcement to slash corporate tax on domestic firms industry insiders expect further buoyancy in the sector going forward travel and tourism industry is a vital contributor to the countrys growth the announcement on lowering the corporate tax from 30 to 22 which is now at par with the south asian countries will have a significant and positive impact on the economy the reforms undertaken by the government will help businesses with higher posttax profits hence incentivising investments into the country and will boost the current economic growth rate farroukh kolah vice president and chief financial officer sotc travel said