How Finance Ministry Grants Infrastructure Status for Convention Centres

The convention centre is a large building set created to hold large people are gathering and meeting. A large convention centre is required to bolster the local economies to attract visitors. This is how money is saved, and meetings are promoted through this infrastructure. 

For several years, the government has been including different projects like housing in infrastructural status. In this view, infrastructure status is a public work system within a country, state and region. The resources like personnel buildings that are required to complete an activity. The underlying foundation will be similar to that of the organisation. 

Infrastructure status 

Recently, the finance ministry has approved grants that make convention centres and exhibitions a part of infrastructure status. Easing bank financing will provide the real estate with a new status and growth path. 

The government has included convention centres known as exhibition workshops in the Harmonised Master Infrastructural List. The government has created a newer category known as Social and Commercial Infrastructure. 

Any project with a smallest floor area of 100,000 square metres can acquire the benefits of a convention centre along with grants approved by the government. The real estate space must be equipped with exhibition and convention spaces. 

Such buildings must comprise basic facilities, including exhibition centres, convention halls, auditoriums, plenary halls, meetings, and others. 

What is a harmonised list of infrastructure?

 As mentioned, convention centres have been included in the harmonised list; let’s know what types of infrastructure in real estate are included under this category.

• Transporting and Logistics: roads, bridges, inland waterways, airports and others. 
• Energy- Electricity generation and transmission
• Water treatment and solid waste management. 
• Access to telecommunication.
• Social infrastructure like education institutions, sports infrastructure, hospitals and others. 
• The infrastructure included in this list implicates those real estate will be able to access concessional grants, project promotion, construction continuity and specification of sub-sectors. 

Why was giving infrastructural status important?

• India does not hold large convention centres or singlet halls that can hold more than 7000 to 100000 days. 
• The lesser developed or equivalently developed nations have global convention centres known as MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Conference and Exhibition). 
• The grant of such infrastructural status will enhance community development as more people could participate. 
• The Department of Economic Affairs has granted Infrastructural status to convention centres that will ease financing loans from banks and financial institutions. Convention centres and exhibitions have been provided infrastructure status, although it will not be significant for tax breaks. 

Benefits of convention centres 

Also, the loans and financing are restricted with minimum built-up, limiting India’s capability to organise global conventions. In recent times, large exhibitions of national and international interests have been organised in either Dwarka or Pragati Maidan, located in the capital. India cannot hold more than 100000 people. Hence huge open places like Pragati Maidan are used. 

 It is important to have convention centres, as it generates significant revenues. India will benefit from such infrastructure as most multinational companies operate in the country that could use such centres for organising corporate events.

Since these conventional centres are concessional, they provide affordable rental benefits to the lenders. Also, such centres will be a tourist attraction, hence generating income for central and state governments. Hence, it becomes important to review floor area limitations which will suffice varied needs urging from national and international interests. 

How does this infrastructural status aim at transforming real estate?  

The union budget for including convention centres in infrastructure status was announced in 2017- 2018. The theme was transformation, energise and clean, also denoted as TEC. 

This theme was directed toward influencing growth in rural areas, infrastructure and poverty, which has provided the impetus for affordable housing. The infrastructural status ensures easier access to institutional credits, which helps to reduce costs by borrowers making projects affordable.

 Real estate usually goes through complex processes, from procuring permission on land to other functions. The inclusion of convention centres in infrastructure status help simplify all the processes, thereby creating guidelines and increasing transparency within each segment. This will enable the Real Estate Regulatory Authority to attract debt and pension funds which could be funded in affordable housing segments. 

Conclusion 

The convention centres are large buildings that hold many people, around 7000 to 10000. India lacks adequate convention centres, restricting its national and international interests participation. The inclusion of convention centres in infrastructure status will provide the impetus for affordable renting.

 The landowners will be able to secure finances from banks more easily, although the space area of convention centres has been limited to 100,000 square meters of built-up area. The convention centres include primary facilities: exhibition centres, halls, auditoriums, business centres, and others.