The government of India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is taking lots of efforts to promote the tourism in the country. In one such endeavor, they have decided to add 36 more countries wherein the e-visa will be made available on arrival to India. Which are these 36 countries and how it is going to work? Read the complete report here.
[su_expand more_text=”READ MORE” less_text=” ” height=”0″ hide_less=”yes” link_style=”button” link_align=”center”] Accordion to the report published by the national English daily the Times of India, government of India is in process of extending the services of e-visa to 36 more countries across the world. The sources have informed that riding high on the success of the e-tourist visa scheme, the Union tourism ministry plans to extend online visas to 36 countries including Iran, Italy, Egypt and Nigeria among others. According to sources, the proposal has been sent for approval to the ministry of home affairs. If accepted, 186 countries will now be able to access online visa to travel to India.
Read: New visa policy introduced in Dubai for visitors
According to the sources, amongst the countries that have been shortlisted are Iran, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Maldives, Italy, Nigeria, Turkey, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, and Morocco. The online visa scheme that was launched in November 2013 has been steadily expanded and has become a popular alternative for tourists.
Tourism ministry data shows that during January-June 2016, a total of 4,71,909 tourists arrived on e-tourist visa as compared to 1,26,214 during January-June 2015, registering a growth of 273.9%. The high growth may be attributed to the introduction of e-tourist visa for 150 countries in February 2016 as compared to 76 countries earlier, the ministry said.
A total of 36,982 tourists arrived in June 2016 as compared to 15,557 during the same period last year registering a growth of 137.7%. A statement by the ministry said that the e-visa facility was most popular with the United States, that drew the maximum number of tourists (23.22%) followed by UK (14.16%), China (6.91%), Australia (5.59%) and France (4.10%) in May 2016.
New Delhi was the favorite port of arrival in June with 42.15% using the airport, followed by Mumbai airport which was used by 22.94% of the tourists. Others that followed were Bengaluru airport (9.95%), Chennai (9.80%), Hyderabad (3.76%), Kochi (3.52%), Kolkata (2.72%), Ahmedabad airport.
Read: What is H-1B Visa and why everyone in India wants to apply for it?
In the month of June last year, the Goa government had extended an e-visa to around 31 countries. According to the reports, The Goa Airport at Dabolim is set to issue E-Tourist Visas (ETVs) to 31 more countries enlisted for this facility granted by the Central government recently. The existing policy had provided this benefit to 45 countries and with the inclusion of 31 more countries, the facility is now available for citizens from nearly 75 countries, while the Centre plans to extend this to 150 by next year.
With more countries getting the e-visa facilities it will help in boosting the tourism in India. Let’s wait and watch how much a benefit comes to India. MMeanwhile,if you have experienced any issues with the e-visa please do share your experience here.
Source: TNN
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