 "Expect today: Govt decision on extending visa on arrival for 40 countries")
India intends to extend visa onarrival facility to tourists from 40 more countries, includingthe US, the UK, Canada, Brazil, Australia, the UAE and SaudiArabia, a move which will make the country a more touristfriendly destination and promote foreign exchange earnings.
The Planning Commission has called a high-level meeting ofdifferent ministries and National Security Advisor on Mondayto deliberate on the feasibility of the move.
“We have called a meeting on October 7 to discuss thepossibility of extending tourist visa for 40 more countries asthis could help in garnering more foreign exchange andcontaining the current account deficit,” Planning MinisterRajeev Shukla told PTI.
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Representational image of a passport. Reuters[/caption]
The current account deficit is the difference betweeninflow and outflow of foreign exchange. During 2012-13, theCAD was at all-time high of 4.8 percent of GDP or $88.2billion. Government proposes to bring it down to $70billion or 3.8 percent of the GDP.
According to the Minster, Commission’s Deputy ChairmanMontek Singh Ahluwalia and senior officials from concernedministries like tourism, external affairs, home affairs areexpected to attend the meeting. National Security Advisor ShivShankar Menon will also participate in the discussions.
Shukla said: “Tourism Ministry has raised the issue oftourist visa regime as impediment in the growth of foreignvisitors in the country which ultimately results in lesserforeign exchange earnings.“According to the minister, India’s visa regime hasdeflected foreign tourists from the US, Canada and Europe toSri Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal.
The other countries for which this facility can beextended include Germany, France, Italy, Swedan, theNetherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, Austria, Denmark,Poland, Norway, Ireland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa,Turkey, Israel, Mauritius, Czech Republic, Oman, Argentina andKazakhstan.
In 2012, India received 6.58 million foreign tourists, up4.3 percent over the previous year. India’s foreign exchangeearnings in 2012 from tourists were $17.74 billion, showingan increase of 7.1 percent year on year.India’s share in the international tourist receipts in theyear 2012 was 0.64 per cent with overall ranking of 41. Thecountry’s share in international receipts in the year 2012 was1.65 per cent with overall rank of 16.
Foreign exchange earning from tourism during January toAugust 2013 were USD 12.025 billion with a growth of 6.7 percent, as compared to $11.273 billion year on year.Under the visa on arrival system, India has agreementwith different countries, including Japan, Finland, Singapore,Indonesia, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Cambodia, Vietnam,Philippines, Laos and Myanmar.
PTI