Government Of India Onset To Give SIM Card Kit To E-Visa Tourists

The Government of India is expected to soon approve a proposal, that will allow providing Indian SIM cards, to all tourists arriving on E-Visa. The new proposal is pending in the Home Ministry and is likely to get the nod soon, as the proposal is being considered a driving tool for attracting more E-Visa tourists to India. The e-tourist visa is currently given to the citizens of 113 countries and government has planned to raise it to 150 countries by March 31, 2016. As part of the proposal, the Tourism Ministry has also planned to gift a kit comprising a SIM card, maps, booklets and CD with information about various tourist destinations, guidelines relating to do's and don't and details regarding whom to contact in case of any emergency.

Tourist visa on arrival (TVoA) is enabled by Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), popularly known as e-tourist visa scheme, which was launched on November 27, 2014. In the e-tourist visa scheme, an applicant receives an email that authorises him or her to travel to India after it is approved and he or she can travel with a print-out of that authorised document. On arrival, the visitors need to present the authorised document to the immigration authorities, who would then approve their entry into the country. According to an official estimate, during January-November of 2015, a total of 3,41,683 tourists arrived India on e-tourist visa as compared to 24,963 during the corresponding period of previous year, registering a growth of 1,268.8 percent. The mindblowing result of E-Visa scheme has enforced the Government of India to add some more lucrative packages that will further encourage more tourists to India.

In an official statement, a Senior Home Ministry official said, "Even though there are issues of security, communication is important for any visitor. Since we are giving e-tourist visa to citizens of a limited number of countries and that too after proper verification, we are giving our approval to the proposal of giving SIM cards to tourists".