Travel in India is recovering very well after the COVID-19 pandemic, said Ritesh Agarwal Founder and Group CEO of OYO.

Agrawal, SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara and MD & CEO of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Tapan Singhel spoke to CNBC-TV18's Shereen Bhan on the sidelines of the ongoing World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2022.

Talking about revival in the hospitality industry, Agarwal said, “The delta wave was very hard on the travel and hospitality industry, there is no qualms. But it in some way, in my view helped the travel and hospitality industry, because we were able to redesign our cost structures, use technology like never before, which is now helping us prepare for future growth. Clearly, businesses is coming back with vengeance.”

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He said the company has business in India as well as different parts of the world. "On the Easter weekend in India we had over 8 lakh bookings and have done more than that every week ever since ,including yesterday. So that just shows that travel in India is coming back very strong as in Europe,” he said.

Talking about inflation, Khara said that in India it is more of "imported inflation", which is essentially attributed to the crude oil and also edible oil. "When it comes to the fuel-led inflation, it is essentially on account of the imported crude. So, to the extent possible, the Indian government has taken a very, very pragmatic step in terms of reducing the excise, which will go a long way,” he said.

Singhel said he expects expects that India will keep on moving forward and int he right direction. “The India story is something which is there for a long-term and it keeps on moving on that is my expectation. I feel this going to be in the right direction as it progress further," he said.

For full interview, watch accompanying video

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