Starting a Homestay in Chhattisgarh

01 / Executive finding

The practical starting point

• Chhattisgarh currently operates a public Chhattisgarh Tourism Board (CTB) Homestay Registration form. It asks for the homestay category, an authorised manager, Aadhaar, address, ownership type, police-clearance status, room details, tariffs, ownership proof and other property information. [S1, portal fields]
• The Government of Chhattisgarh's current Invest Chhattisgarh/OneClick reform page makes three unusually clear current implementation statements: no NOC requirement for homestay registration; homestay registration for lifetime; and up to 9 rooms permitted for a homestay unit. These are strong current implementation statements but the underlying Tourism notification/order was not located, so they should not yet be presented as clause-level notified law. [S2, Tourism reform bullets]
• A current official definition establishing exactly who may be the applicant, whether the owner must ordinarily reside at the property, whether a resident family member is sufficient, or whether a non-resident owner may rely on a caretaker/operator was Not stated in the current official material reviewed. [S1; S2]
• The current CTB portal expressly asks for the “Name of Person Authorized to Manage” and separately requests a background note concerning the “Owner or Representative.” This supports the existence of a manager/representative role operationally, but it does not establish that a management company, LLP, lessee or caretaker may itself hold the tourism registration. [S1, portal fields]
• The present publicly verifiable capacity ceiling is up to 9 rooms. A current maximum bed/guest-capacity figure and any minimum-room requirement were Not stated in the material reviewed. The older scheme's 1–5 room/10-bed restriction therefore must not be carried into a 2026 public guide as current. [S2, Tourism reform bullets; S5, legacy scheme pp. 10, 17]
• CTB is the operative state tourism-registration body visible in the live process. Its published head-office route is 2nd Floor, Udyog Bhawan, Ring Road No. 1, Telibandha, Raipur, with telephone numbers +91-7714224600 / 18001026415 and the portal-listed email visitcg@gmail.com. A currently populated district-wise CTB contact directory was Not stated in the material reviewed. [S1, portal footer; S4]
• The live form does not display a fixed registration fee before a category is selected; instead it says that fee details will be shown after category selection. Because no application interaction, declaration or payment was undertaken, the current category-wise registration fee, inspection fee and renewal fee are Not stated in the current official material reviewed inspected here. [S1, fee field]
• The Invest Chhattisgarh statement that registration is for lifetime conflicts operationally with a live CTB Renewals page requiring a registration number and email. It is not clear whether the renewal facility exists only for legacy certificates or some current categories. The official sources are not aligned. [S2, Tourism reform bullet; S3, renewal page]
• An older government-hosted Homestay/B&B scheme contains materially different rules—among them 1–5 guest rooms/10 beds, old category-specific fees, local-authority/police documentation and fixed classification periods. Its repository metadata and content indicate an older/draft instrument. It is therefore treated only as LEGACY / Background source only, not the controlling 2026 source. [S5, pp. 9–14, 17–24]
• Tourism registration does not eliminate property-specific building, land, layout, fire, environmental or utility questions. Even the State's current business-reform page separately identifies need-based building/layout NOCs, fire processes and land/building procedures. [S2, Construction Permits]
• A Chhattisgarh homestay accommodating a foreign national or OCI holder is separately covered by the Immigration and Foreigners Rules, 2025: “accommodation” includes homestays; specified foreign-guest details must be electronically recorded and Form III information transmitted within 24 hours after arrival, with departure information within 24 hours after departure, and records maintained for at least one year. [S7, Rule 17, p. 28; Form III, p. 33]
• Where the operation is a food business, the current national FSSAI framework must be handled independently of tourism registration. From 1 April 2026, FSSAI's revised turnover bands are registration up to ₹1.5 crore, State licence above ₹1.5 crore up to ₹50 crore, and Central licence above ₹50 crore. Exact FoSCoS business classification for a particular homestay should be verified rather than inferred. [S9, paras 2–5]
• Central assistance for tribal-area homestays exists under the PM-JUGA/Swadesh Darshan sub-scheme, but the latest specific official approved-project list located, dated 5 February 2026, identified projects in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Uttarakhand and Ladakh—not Chhattisgarh. A Chhattisgarh owner therefore must not be promised the central household grant as an open individual entitlement. [S13]
• Because the complete current State policy/notification, schedules, classification standard, fee schedule and subsidy procedure have not been reproduced from the issuing authority, there is not yet sufficient evidence for a source-audited public guide that states all Chhattisgarh homestay eligibility and incentive rules as settled.

02 / Document chronology

Use the current rules and implementation

Legacy instrument

The older Chhattisgarh Homestay/B&B document located through a government policy repository provides the most detailed historical set of definitions, forms, standards, fee tables and inspection arrangements. Among other things, it historically distinguished a homestay, where an owner-designated agent/operator could reside, from a B&B in which the owner/promoter resided with family; it applied old room/bed limits and classification periods. [S5, pp. 9–14] It must not be treated as the current 2026 rulebook because:

• the repository metadata describes an older/draft policy environment;
• current State implementation material permits up to 9 rooms rather than the old 1–5 rooms;
• current State material says registration is lifetime rather than the old fixed classification period;
• current State material states no NOC requirement for homestay registration;
• CTB's live application has itself changed materially.

July 2025 — central tribal-homestay framework

The Union Ministry of Tourism introduced the PM-JUGA/Swadesh Darshan tribal-area homestay sub-scheme. This is a funding/development programme, not Chhattisgarh's general tourism-registration law. [S13; S14]

2025 — current Chhattisgarh policy activity

Official Chhattisgarh communications refer to the State's homestay policy and implementation during 2025. [S15; S16] However, the actual current Gazette notification, policy order number, schedules and any amendments were Not stated in the material reviewed.

1 September 2025 — national foreigner-reporting regime replaced

MHA notified the Immigration and Foreigners Rules, 2025 through G.S.R. 596(E), effective on publication. The Rules expressly superseded, subject to savings, the Passport (Entry into India) Rules, 1950, Registration of Foreigners Rules, 1992 and Immigration (Carriers' Liability) Rules, 2007. [S7, Rule 1 and opening notification]

October 2025 versus January–February 2026 — policy-period inconsistency

One official State-publication index describes implementation of a 2025–30 Homestay Policy, while another later official-publication index describes a 2023–27 policy. [S18; S19] Because neither complete publication could be inspected sufficiently to establish whether one is a typographical/reference error, the conflict is not resolved here.

March–April 2026 — revised FSSAI regime

FSSAI notified amendments on 10 March 2026 and issued its implementation order on 13 March 2026. Revised turnover thresholds took effect on 1 April 2026, and the amendment framework introduced perpetual validity of FSSAI registration/licence subject to risk-based inspection. [S9, paras 2–5]

Current 2026 implementation

The live State reform page now states:

• no NOC for homestay registration;
• lifetime registration;
• up to nine rooms. [S2]

Supersession finding

Not stated in the current official material reviewed: an express current Tourism Department clause saying that the older Homestay/B&B Scheme is rescinded or superseded, identifying the exact replacement notification and effective date. Practical treatment: do not use the older scheme as current merely because it remains downloadable.

03 / Category definitions

Choose the right accommodation category

Material distinction

The fact that the current Hotel/Resort/Club form expressly asks about partners/directors/company documents while the Homestay form is organised principally around an owner/manager and ownership proof is relevant evidence—but does not itself prove that companies or LLPs are prohibited from holding homestay registration. [S1; S6]

04 / Eligibility decision tree

Check whether the applicant and property qualify

These are research classifications, not approval decisions.

Step 1 — Identify the exact property

Do you have the exact survey/property address and local-body category?

• No; only capital or an early idea exists → registration eligibility cannot yet be tested because the CTB application requires a complete postal address and ownership proof. Not established in the published material for a property-free registration route. [S1]
• Yes → continue.

Step 2 — Establish ownership/lease position

Can the proposed applicant produce the ownership evidence required by the live portal?

• Registered owner with documentary proof → continue.
• Joint/inherited title → acceptable form of co-owner authority/consent is Not stated in the material reviewed → Confirm this in writing with the authority.
• Lessee only → live portal has an “Ownership Type” dropdown but its permitted values were not publicly exposed in the retrieved page → Confirm this in writing with the authority.
• Company/LLP/operator with no title → Confirm this in writing with the authority.

Step 3 — Applicant identity and residence

Is the proposed holder an individual owner?

• Yes → continue.
• Company, LLP, partnership, trust or society → current Homestay policy support Not stated in the material reviewed → Confirm this in writing with the authority. Will the owner/family live there?
• Current mandatory residence rule Not stated in the material reviewed.
• If a separate manager/caretaker will reside instead, the current portal's manager field supports a management role but not the legal substitution of an operator for the eligible applicant → Confirm this in writing with the authority.

Step 4 — Room plan

• 1–9 proposed guest rooms → within the current published State implementation ceiling, subject to all other eligibility conditions. [S2]
• 10 or more proposed guest rooms → exceeds the current published homestay limit → does not appear to fit the published homestay definition / Consider another accommodation category.
• Bed capacity proposed but no room excess → current bed ceiling Not stated in the material reviewed → Confirm this in writing with the authority where capacity could materially affect classification.

Step 5 — Building status

Existing residential home with no major work → Check current registration eligibility, police clearance and local use requirements. If individual ownership, ≤9 rooms and truthful portal completion are otherwise possible: This appears to fit the published route, subject to the remaining checks, but current statutory definition still requires confirmation. Running unregistered homestay → Existing commercial operation does not cure registration or adjacent compliance. Confirm this in writing with the authority regarding regularisation/current category. Land only / proposed new construction → Owning land alone does not establish homestay eligibility. Building-plan/use approvals and current applicant eligibility must precede commercial commitments. Confirm this in writing with the authority. Existing building requiring expansion/change of use → Tourism registration does not establish building-law permission. Confirm this in writing with the authority.

05 / Applicant and operating structures

Set the ownership and operating structure

Critical structural finding

The portal distinguishes property/ownership, person authorised to manage, and owner/representative information. This is useful operational evidence. It is not sufficient evidence that the tourism-registration holder and the commercial operating entity may be unrelated legal persons. [S1]

06 / Property and classification standards

Prepare the property for inspection

Legacy standard warning

The historical scheme contains detailed room sizes, bathroom sizes, utility and classification specifications. [S5, pp. 17–23] Those standards should remain out of the public 2026 rule table unless CTB confirms that they have been carried forward into the current policy.

07 / Documents and declarations

Assemble the application file

The portal declaration allows CTB to cancel registration if information is discrepant. [S1, declaration]

Download the Chhattisgarh property and application checklist ↓

08 / Application and inspection process

Follow the application and inspection process

Current publicly reproducible sequence

[S1; S3]

Inspection

The old scheme described an inspection/classification committee and detailed checklist. Current CTB material inspected here did not reproduce that committee structure or checklist. Current inspecting authority, inspection checklist, advance-notice position, reinspection process and inspection fee: Not stated in the current official material reviewed.

Processing time

The current form merely obtains consent for an automatic complaint/appeal under Rule 6 of the Chhattisgarh Lok Seva Guarantee Rules, 2011 if the service is not delivered within the “stipulated time.” The actual stipulated number of days is not stated on the public form. [S1, declaration] It therefore cannot be presented as a guaranteed registration timeline.

09 / Fees, timelines, validity and renewal

Confirm fees, timing and certificate validity

Legacy certificate treatment

The presence of a live renewal checker combined with a current “lifetime registration” statement strongly suggests that at least some earlier registration records may still require renewal or migration, but that explanation is an inference. Written CTB confirmation is required before telling a legacy certificate holder whether renewal remains mandatory. [S2; S3]

10 / Operating duties after registration

Run the registered homestay correctly

Foreign guests

Rule 17 of the Immigration and Foreigners Rules, 2025 specifically encompasses a “home stay” within accommodation. It requires the keeper to maintain prescribed details for foreign visitors including OCI cardholders, make records available to authorised officials, and electronically transmit prescribed information. [S7, Rule 17, p. 28] Form III captures premise details, passport/visa or OCI particulars, Indian contact information, arrival information and departure information. [S7, Form III, p. 33]

11 / Adjacent approvals and dependencies

Close the approvals outside Tourism

Land/building reform caveat

Invest Chhattisgarh states that land-diversion permission has been removed in favour of land reassessment, that residential properties up to 500 sq m have a fast-track building-approval route, that layout/building approval is online, and that need-based NOCs can still apply. [S2, Construction Permits] None of those general reforms establishes that a specific homestay remains a “residential property” for every local-law purpose. That question must be addressed using the actual location and proposed use.

12 / Incentives, subsidy and funding

Evaluate incentives without assuming sanction

A. Current Chhattisgarh Homestay Policy assistance

An official Janman issue indexed in government search material refers to individual financial amounts and labels the policy 2023–27, but another official publication describes a 2025–30 policy. Until the actual notified scheme and schedules are inspected, these figures should not be published as settled entitlement. [S18; S19]

B. PM-JUGA — Development of Homestays in Tribal Areas

Official Union-government material states the scheme aims to develop 1,000 homestays and contemplates assistance up to:

• ₹5 lakh for village/community requirements;
• ₹5 lakh per household for construction of two new rooms; and
• ₹3 lakh per household for renovation of existing rooms. [S13] However, this is not a walk-in cash grant automatically available to every tribal-area property owner. The programme operates through identified tourism-potential villages/clusters, State/UT proposals, DPRs, approval and fund availability. The latest specific approved-project list located, dated 5 February 2026, named Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Uttarakhand and Ladakh; Chhattisgarh was not named. [S13] Current Chhattisgarh individual applications confirmed open: NO / Not stated in the material reviewed.

C. MUDRA / institutional credit

Central-government tourism communications have referred to facilitating collateral-free institutional credit/MUDRA loans for homestays. [S13] However:

• a loan is not a subsidy;
• current bank underwriting criteria still apply;
• sanction is discretionary;
• a homestay applicant should not treat tourism eligibility as bank approval;
• a specific current Chhattisgarh homestay lending circular/product with guaranteed terms was Not stated in the material reviewed.

13 / Business implications

Translate the rules into a workable project

Before selecting or acquiring a property

The assessment file should establish, before commercial terms are proposed:

1. exact property address, survey identifiers and local-body category;
2. current title, co-ownership, inheritance and encumbrance position;
3. whether the intended applicant owns the property or would rely on a lease/authority;
4. intended registration holder;
5. who will actually reside/manage/host at the property;
6. proposed guest-room count, with the current 9-room ceiling;
7. total existing building configuration;
8. local building-use and alteration position;
9. protected/forest/environmental context;
10. water, electricity, sewage/waste and road access;
11. whether food will be served;
12. whether foreign guests will be accepted;
13. whether the commercial model depends on a State or central incentive.

Before construction or renovation

A landowner should not construct nine rooms merely because the State implementation page says a homestay may have up to nine rooms. The development must independently satisfy building, land, structural, fire and other property-specific rules. Where incentive eligibility depends on expenditure being incurred after an application, approval, bank sanction or project selection, premature construction may jeopardise the benefit. Because the current Chhattisgarh incentive procedure was not located, this must be clarified before expenditure intended to qualify for assistance.

Registration holder versus operating entity

The live CTB form supports a distinction between the property/owner and a “Person Authorized to Manage.” [S1] It does not, on the evidence inspected, establish that:

• a company can become registration holder;
• an LLP can become registration holder;
• a lessee can become registration holder;
• the registration may be transferred wholesale to a professional operator; or
• the eligible owner may entirely cease any legally required residence/host role. A management agreement therefore cannot by itself cure an ineligible applicant or property.

Capital-only participant

A person starting with capital but no property can undertake:

• property search;
• diligence;
• commercial structuring;
• design feasibility;
• operating planning; and
• financing analysis. But a tourism application cannot presently be prepared truthfully to completion without a property because the CTB form requires an address, ownership type and ownership-proof upload. [S1]

Landowner

A landowner proposing a new build must first distinguish:

• landownership;
• building permission;
• tourism-category eligibility;
• operator eligibility; and
• incentive eligibility. They are different questions.

Running homestay

A running property should be audited against:

• existing tourism registration and its validity;
• whether it is a legacy certificate;
• current room count;
• ownership changes since registration;
• police-clearance file;
• foreign-guest reporting;
• food registration/licensing;
• local building/use status;
• tax/entity position.

Commercial planning

Commercial planning should include regulatory contingencies rather than assuming approval. At minimum:

• title/lease condition precedent;
• building/legal-use condition;
• tourism-category condition;
• operator-structure condition;
• current fee confirmation;
• current subsidy confirmation;
• FSSAI position;
• foreigner-reporting readiness;
• renewal/migration status for legacy properties. No fixed the project team ownership percentage, investment contribution, revenue share or income commitment follows from the tourism rules.

14 / Official-source conflicts

Resolve conflicting official instructions

Conflict 1 — maximum rooms

Source A: Current Invest Chhattisgarh/OneClick implementation page. Proposition: Homestay units are permitted up to 9 rooms. [S2] Source B: Older Chhattisgarh Homestay/B&B scheme copy. Proposition: Historical eligibility was 1–5 rooms / 10 beds. [S5, pp. 10, 17] Hierarchy/date assessment: S2 is substantially newer and is current State implementation material. S5 is legacy/draft material. No current notification expressly superseding S5 was retrieved. Status: The official sources are not aligned, although the current operational evidence favours the nine-room implementation limit. Affected properties: any proposed homestay with 6–9 rooms. Written answer required from: Chhattisgarh Tourism Board / Tourism Department, citing the current policy clause authorising nine rooms.

Conflict 2 — NOC versus police clearance/local approvals

Source A: S2 says “No NOC requirement for homestay registration.” Source B: The live CTB application still makes “Police Clearance Obtained” a mandatory selection and provides a Police Clearance Document upload. [S1] Source C: Legacy scheme required additional local/police documentation. [S5] Analysis: “No NOC requirement” may mean no separate departmental NOC as a tourism-registration prerequisite while police clearance remains a different requirement. That interpretation is plausible but not stated expressly. Status: The official sources are not aligned / SCOPE OF ‘NO NOC’ UNCLEAR. Affected properties: every new applicant, especially those relying on the reform page to omit local or police documentation. Written answer required from: CTB.

Conflict 3 — lifetime registration versus renewal

Source A: S2 says registration for lifetime. Source B: CTB currently maintains a live Renewals interface asking for registration number and email. [S3] Source C: Legacy scheme contemplated time-limited classification and renewal; its own historical materials also contain different historical periods. Analysis: The renewal interface may serve legacy certificates, but that limitation is not stated on the page. Status: The official sources are not aligned. Affected properties: all holders of older certificates and any new applicant relying on lifetime validity. Written answer required from: CTB: whether all registrations issued under the present policy are lifetime, and which certificate vintages still require renewal.

Conflict 4 — policy period

Source A: Official State publication index referring to Homestay Policy 2025–30. [S19] Source B: Later official State-publication index referring to Homestay Policy 2023–27. [S18] Analysis: Complete inspectable source text necessary to determine whether this is a publication error, separate instrument or amendment was unavailable. Status: The official sources are not aligned. Affected properties: principally applicants relying on incentive periods/application windows. Resolution: obtain current notified policy/order and any amendment from Tourism Department/e-Gazette.

Conflict 5 — historical food “licence” treatment versus present national FSSAI regime

The older State scheme contains historical language suggesting limited food/restaurant-licence treatment. The current national FSSAI system governs food businesses and has been materially amended in 2026. [S9] Hierarchy conclusion: the historical State tourism language must not be treated as a waiver of current national food-safety legislation. Status: hierarchy resolves the broad point; exact FoSCoS business classification still requires case-specific confirmation.

Internal legacy conflict — classification period

The legacy document historically referred in one place to a three-year classification period while a renewal form referred to a further two-year period. This inconsistency is an additional reason not to reuse old renewal text in the present guide.

15 / Unresolved questions for the authority

Take the remaining questions to the authority

The following should be sent to Chhattisgarh Tourism Board / Department of Tourism with a request for written, clause-specific responses:

1. Please provide the complete currently effective Chhattisgarh Homestay Policy, Gazette notification/order number, date, schedules, forms, classification checklist and all amendments/corrigenda.
2. Invest Chhattisgarh states that homestays may have up to nine rooms. Which clause/notification authorises this, and is there also a maximum number of beds or guests?
3. Is there a minimum number of rooms required?
4. What is the current statutory/administrative definition of “homestay”, and how is it distinguished from B&B, guest house, hotel, resort, farm stay and serviced accommodation?
5. Must the property owner or owner's family reside at the property, or may a designated manager/caretaker satisfy any residence requirement?
6. Can a non-resident owner register a homestay if a full-time authorised manager resides/operates there?
7. May a private limited company, LLP, partnership firm, trust or society hold the homestay registration? If yes, whose Aadhaar must be entered in the current form?
8. May a lessee be the registration holder? If yes, what lease term, registration and owner-consent documentation are required?
9. May the owner remain the tourism-registration holder while a professional management company operates the property under contract?
10. What values presently appear under the mandatory “Ownership Type” dropdown and what evidence is accepted for each?
11. What does the State's “No NOC requirement for homestay registration” reform mean specifically? Does it eliminate local-body NOC only, or any other NOC? Why does the current form still require police-clearance status?
12. Whose police clearance is required—owner, applicant, manager, resident host, employees or more than one—and how recent must it be?
13. What are the current registration categories/grades, criteria and exact fee for each?
14. Are there any current inspection or classification fees, and are fees refundable following withdrawal/refusal?
15. What is the present inspection committee/authority and current inspection checklist?
16. What is the notified service-delivery period referenced by the Lok Seva Guarantee declaration in the portal?
17. Does “lifetime registration” apply to every new homestay certificate? Are periodic inspections/reclassification still required?
18. Why does CTB retain an active Renewals page? Which older registrations must still renew, and on what schedule?
19. What is the procedure to amend a certificate after:

• room addition/removal;
• owner death;
• sale;
• inheritance;
• registered lease;
• change of manager;
• change of operating company;
• change of tariff?

1. Can registration be transferred, or must a purchaser/new owner make a fresh application?
2. What are the current suspension/cancellation grounds and the appellate authority/time limit for a merits appeal?
3. Are domestic guest-ID registers, periodic police submissions or monthly tourism-statistics returns currently required? If yes, please provide the form and retention period.
4. Is there a current State homestay-specific staff/caretaker police-verification requirement?
5. Is FSSAI registration/licensing expected where breakfast/meals are supplied to resident guests, and does CTB prescribe any additional kitchen classification?
6. Please identify the current State homestay subsidy/incentive scheme, eligible applicant, eligible locations, expenditure base, assistance formula, maximum ceiling, bank route and sanction authority.
7. Are State homestay incentive applications currently open, and must application/sanction occur before construction or renovation begins?
8. Official State publications have referred both to 2025–30 and 2023–27 policy periods. Which period is legally correct?
9. Does the current policy apply throughout Chhattisgarh or only specified rural, tribal, heritage or tourism-potential locations?
10. Please provide a current district-wise list of CTB/Department of Tourism officers handling homestay applications and escalations.
11. What current building-sanction, occupancy, fire or local-body records must be produced during tourism scrutiny even though the State reform page says no NOC is required for homestay registration?