Delhi government on Monday granted exemption from paying luxury tax on hotel accommodation to delegates and other official participants of the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Sheila Dikshit.
The nineteenth edition of the Commonwealth Games will be held in the city from October 3-14. Dikshit said the exemption will be given for a month and it will be effective from September 16.
"We have taken the decision following a request from the Indian Olympic Association," she said.
The exemption will be given to delegates of Commonwealth member countries, officials of the Commonwealth Games Federation, technical experts of international sports federations and staff of the broadcasting and media rights holders of the event. It is estimated that amount involved in grant of exemption in luxury tax will be around Rs 30 crore (Rs 300 million).
The chief minister said the decision has been taken as per the 'Host City Contract' which says that the host city will use all reasonable endeavours to minimise the imposition of taxes on accredited representatives.
The city government in the past had given similar exemptions to participants in events like the International Film Festival of India, World Half Marathon Championship and Pravasi Bhartiya Divas.
The Organising Committee will have to provide a detailed list of delegates and technical experts along with period of their stay and tariff paid in the hotel to the government.
Asked about the status of various infrastructure projects linked to the Games, Dikshit said the government has been constantly monitoring their progress.
Delhi government has undertaken massive infrastructure development projects worth thousands of crores of rupees as part of its preparations for the mega sporting event.
Last month, Dikshit had asked the contractors involved in projects linked to next year's Commonwealth Games to pull up their socks and threatened to blacklist them if they fail to complete the work within stipulated time frame.
