There’s a good news for the youth of Mumbai. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has approved a report to revive the city’s vibrant nightlife which has been under curfew lately over fears of growing vigilantism of police and licensing authorities.
The Hindu reported that one of the main recommendations of the report is reducing the age of drinking to 21 from 25.
This report by consultancy firm Accenture was approved last week by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. It envisages a separate Single Window Authority (SWA), headed by a bureaucrat of the rank of a principal secretary. This is modelled along Singapore’s highly successful OBLS (Online Business Licensing System).
Praveen Pardeshi, Principal Secretary to the CM told The Hindu,
The Chief Minister has in-principle approved this report by Accenture, and after only a few minor changes, we would soon be rolling out a policy on the basis of this.
Apart from these, the other recommendations include 24×7 opening hours, abolition of permit rooms and permits for drinking, joint grant of operational and construction permits in a single stroke and cutting down the permissions required from the current 142 to just 20.
This report is as long as 86 pages and it forecasts a 100 per cent increase of tourist expenditure in Mumbai. What’s more, it also aims for a drastic jump in the ALOS (average length of stay) once the plan is implemented. The ALOS is currently taken to be two days for domestic and four days for foreign tourists arriving in Mumbai. The average tourist expenditure per day is Rs 6,718 for foreign and Rs 3,141 for domestic tourists.
News information is sourced from The Hindu
