View of one of the rooms at Tathastu Resorts in Pench

Travel company ‘Tripadvisor’ has rated Tathastu Resorts, situated at Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, amongst the top 10% hotels in the world. Every year, Tripadvisor recognizes businesses that have demonstrated a commitment to hospitality excellence with a ‘Travellers’ Choice Award’ and Tathastu has made it to this list for the third consecutive year. The award celebrates businesses that have received great traveller reviews from guests around the globe on Tripadvisor over the last 12 months. As challenging as the past year was, Tathastu stood out by consistently delivering positive experiences to their guests.

Speaking about the recognition, Kanika Soni, Chief Commercial Officer at Tripadvisor, said: “The Travellers’ Choice Awards recognize the best in tourism and hospitality, according to those who matter most: your guests. Ranking among the Travellers’ Choice winners is always tough but never more so than this year as we emerge from the pandemic. Whether it’s using new technology, implementing safety measures, or hiring outstanding staff, I’m impressed by the steps you’ve taken to meet travellers’ new demands. You’ve adapted brilliantly in the face of adversity.”

Tathastu Luxury Resort in Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh is spread over lush 15 acres featuring 59 state-of-the-art Rooms, equipped with a banquet hall. The resort’s close proximity from Nagpur ensures smooth connectivity from all major cities of the country. It also has an in-house spa and wellness centre, a temperature-controlled indoor swimming pool, an art centre and a range of activities making it the perfect getaway for families and corporates to plan their trips and events.

To know about Tathastu Resorts, you may visit www.tathasturesorts.com or call on 9765550607

From left: Dipen Agrawal, Suresh Rathi, Dr V Sraman, Shivkumar Rao, Julfesh Shah and Manohar Bhojwani during BAC’s meeting

The first meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) for MIHAN – Special Economic Zone (SEZ) was held in Nagpur on April 26. BAC was constituted recently with Dr V Sraman (Development Commissioner, MIHAN SEZ)) as Chairman, and Dr Dipen Agrawal (President, Chamber of Association of Maharashtra Industry & Trade), Julfesh Shah (Chairman, Nagpur Chapter of Chamber of Small Industry Associations), Manohar Bhojwani (CEO, Diet Foods International), Shivkumar Rao (President, Vidarbha Economic Development Council) and Suresh Rathi (President, Vidarbha Industries Association), as co-committee members.

During the meeting, Dr Dipen Agrawal suggested that BAC should work on three fronts simultaneously:

1) to reach out to present investors/units and on priority resolve the problems faced by them
2) different regions have different problems hence committee should endeavor to study and propose region specific practical policy modification for MIHAN-SEZ to government and
3) to review the marketing strategy to promote the project so as to attract new investments in MIHAN.

Julfesh Shah informed that the committee members are of the opinion that it is important to attract large companies to MIHAN rather than go after small-scale units. Manohar Bhojwani said that MIHAN is a place that offers world-class infrastructure, and yet manufacturing units shy away from setting up their plants there. Bhojwani opined that this is primarily because of the SEZ policy, which doesn’t make it attractive for units to opt for MIHAN – SEZ. He felt that the committee should make a representation to the central govt., listing out suggestions to make the SEZ a viable choice for industrial development.

Shivkumar Rao mentioned that the SEZ policy being unfriendly to investors is an issue that the central govt. recognizes, and is likely to announce an employment-oriented, industry-friendly policy by the end of Sept 2022, as announced by the finance minister in the budget. He felt that while we may give suggestions to the central govt., it is important for the committee to focus on settling the existing issues for which the most important thing is for the MADC (Maharashtra Airport Development Company Limited) to be on board. He felt that without MADC on board, the BAC would function more like a pressure group. Rao further felt that MIHAN was still an attractive location for the services sector, particularly finance, IT, MRO, defense and education.

Suresh Rathi mentioned that while we may wait for the new policy to be announced, we have to simultaneously start working on resolving the difficulties of the existing investors, particularly those who have been allotted space within the SEZ, but have not been able to commence operations for some reason. He also highlighted the efforts that have been put in by VIA to address problems of various unit-holders in which MADC was also invited.

After hearing the views of members, Dr V Sraman highlighted the existing problems in MIHAN and complimented the industry associations and trade bodies on their pro-active approach. He advised members of the BAC to help him and the region to be an attractive destination for industrial investment. He assured to frame terms of reference of the BAC. The meeting concluded with a field visit to the SEZ area.

Dipen Agrawal (President, CAMIT) with State Power Minister Dr Nitin Raut

Dr Dipen Agrawal, President, CAMIT (Chamber of Associations of Maharashtra Industry and Trade), recently met Dr Nitin Raut (Minister for Energy, New & Renewable Energy, Government of Maharashtra) and discussed the issue of power shortage and proposed load shedding.

Agrawal said that poor electricity supply is widely recognised as a key impediment to firm growth and productivity. Trade and Industry as a whole suffers from power cuts and with 15 out of 27 IMD locations recording more than 40 degrees in Maharashtra and Vidarbha topping with 44.7 degrees, it becomes even more difficult for shops, trade, commerce, agriculture and industry as a whole to operate without proper power.

This directly effects the productivity, sale and revenue, which in turn reduces states tax collections and as the losses pile up many jobs will also be lost. Uncertain power supply and uncertainty over supply of power creates confusion and disrupts planning and strategies. The power outages result in thumbs down to new investments across sectors in trade, commerce and industry. Load shedding has effects on agriculture as well, right from water pumps to processing of agricultural produce everything is disrupted.

Dr Agrawal appealed to the minister to do whatever he and the department can to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the consumers and do away with the proposed load shedding. He requested the minister to address the issue by analysing whether it is a power demand – supply mismatch or fuel (coal) crisis, only then the department can arrive at a solution. He further added that a stable and reliable supply of electricity is essential for almost every aspect of our daily lives and a necessary condition for economic growth.

Dr Raut assured there is no load shedding implemented as of now and it is expected that month of May would pass smoothly too, MSEDCL is not only buying power from private generators but also buying from power exchanges to the tune of 1500 to 1800 MW of power. He also said that the generation shortfall is mainly due shortage of coal and the same is being sorted out. Adani Power which has a PPA with state has increased the supply to 3000 MW.

Agrawal on behalf of business community of the state expressed his gratitude towards Dr Nitin Raut for patiently hearing the issue of load shedding and assuring his best efforts to get them addressed by energy department/ministry.