More countries to get visa on arrival in India
Cecision to be made in next few months; list of 11 countries that qualify for visa on arrival could be extended soon
Dubai: The number of nationalities that qualify for a tourist visa on arrival in India could be increased within the next few months.
Consul-General Sanjay Verma said yesterday that plans were underway to allow more foreign tourists to enter India without applying in advance for a visa, in a bid to increase international tourism.
When asked when a decision would be made, Verma said: "Within the next few months."
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The list — which currently comprises just 11 countries — was extended in January 2010 to include citizens of Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Finland and Luxembourg and in January 2011 to include Indonesia and Burma, among others.
But it currently excludes citizens of a number of potential markets, including the majority of European Union countries, the UK and the US.
Speaking to Gulf News following the press conference, Ajay Kumar Gupta, Additional Director-General at the Ministry of Tourism, said: "We hope that we will be able to extend this to a large number [of countries].
"I am not able to give a timeframe," he added.
Gupta added that there were "security concerns" that needed to be considered before the list was extended further.
India is seeking to boost its numbers of international tourists, which currently clocks in at just six million per year and is dwarfed by the number of domestic tourists travelling from other areas of India.
