NEW DELHI, July 10 — India will be introducing Electronic Travel Authorisation (e-Visa) in a phased manner at nine airports to encourage and ease tourist arrivals in the country.Announcing this during his maiden budget speech at parliament Thursday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the facility will be put in place within the next six months.”The e-Visa will give a major boost to tourism in India. Countries eligible for the facility will be identified in a phased manner; this will further facilitate the visa-on-arrival facility,” he said.Foreign tourist arrivals from January to June were 3.54 million with a 5.2 percent growth compared to 3.37 million in the same period last year.
Countries granted visa-on-arrival to India include Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, Finland, Myanmar, Vietnam, Luxembourg, Cambodia and Laos.
— BERNAMA
