India will allow foreign tourists traveling on chartered flights from today

The government had earlier suspended all international flights in March last year following the outbreak of the Kovid-19 pandemic.

With this, the Union Home Ministry announced on 7 October that, in view of the current overall pandemic situation, restrictions on visas and international travel have been further relaxed from March 2020 onwards due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A Home Ministry statement said that after considering various inputs, the ministry has decided to start granting fresh tourist visas for foreigners coming to India through chartered flights from October 15, 2021.

Foreign tourists entering India on flights other than chartered aircraft will be able to do so only on new tourist visas from November 15, 2021.

All protocols and norms relating to COVID-19 notified by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare from time to time will be followed by foreign tourists, carriers bringing them to India and all other stakeholders at landing stations, the statement said. .

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all visas granted to foreigners were suspended last year.

Several other restrictions on international travel were also imposed by the central government to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Considering the evolving COVID-19 situation, foreigners were subsequently allowed to avail any type of Indian visa other than tourist visa for entry and stay in India.

However, the Ministry of Home Affairs was receiving representations from several state governments as well as various stakeholders in the tourism sector for introducing tourist visas to allow foreign tourists to visit India.

Therefore, the Ministry of Home Affairs consulted all the key stakeholders such as Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Tourism and various State Governments where foreign tourists are expected to visit and took a decision, the statement said. .

Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry has announced free tourist visas to the first 5 lakh tourists who will visit India after the restoration of tourist visas.

India is expecting slow tourist arrivals keeping in mind the post-Covid scenario. According to an internal assessment conducted by the Ministry of Tourism, the country is expected to attract 5 lakh tourists by March next year, if all goes well.

To get the tourism industry back on track and fill the coffers with foreign exchange, India is expected to offer free visas to major source markets first. India is also expecting stiff competition from neighboring countries.

To harness the optimum benefits of granting free tourist visas to the first 5 lakh tourists, it is expected that India will focus on major source markets such as Europe, USA, Australia and countries like Japan and Korea, which offer high returns. . Form of foreign exchange income.