E-visa facility at nine airports soon

New Delhi, July 10 (IANS) E-visa facilities will be introduced at nine airports in the next six months to attract more tourists, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said Thursday.

"Tourism is one of the larger job creators globally. Many economies world over are supported by tourism. In order to give a major boost to tourism in India, the facility would be introduced in a phased manner at nine airports," Jaitley said while presenting the budget for 2014-15.

He also said the necessary infrastructure would be put in place within the next six months.

"Travel authorisation facility would be extended in a phased manner. This would further facilitate the visa on arrival facility," he said.

Earlier this year, India has also extended visa on arrival (VoA) facility to 180 countries and barred eight countries from this service.

These eight countries - Pakistan, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Somalia - are categorised as "sensitive countries".

The implementation of visa on arrival to all these countries is expected to start by the end of this year.

India currently offers visa on arrival to tourists from 11 countries: Finland, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Indonesia, Luxembourg, Cambodia and Japan.

This facility is available at international airports of Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Kochi, Hyderabad, Bengalore, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram

According to the ministry of tourism, foreign tourist arrivals for the year 2013-14 witnessed 9.7 percent growth and visa on arrival soared to 19.1 percent growth compared to last year.