Maharashtra govt to issue SOP for reopening of restaurants by next week

The Maharashtra government is working on a standard operating procedure (SOP) for re-opening all hotels and restaurants in Maharashtra by next week. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar assured the restaurants and hotel industry representatives that within a week the standard operating procedure (SOP) and all the necessary guidelines and permissions to resume their restaurants would be discussed and a road map for re-opening would be drawn.

“The livelihood of millions of daily wage earners is at stake. With the reopening of restaurants and hotels, the industry will be able to re-coup some of its losses. The restaurant industry is the biggest employer of semi-skilled workers in India,” said Kalathur Vishwanath Shetty, general secretary of NCP, and president of Hotel Labour Union.

Mumbai is the largest contributor to the food industry in terms of revenues. It beats the national capital in both the organised and the unorganised segments (see chart 1). Every household spends nearly Rs 3,000 on food from outside, which has helped fuel the growth of a large number of restaurants employing thousands within the city (see chart 2).