New Delhi: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said the e-visa facility for 43 countries had been rolled out to double the contribution of the Tourism Industry in the Gross domestic product (GDP).
"We have launched this system for 43 countries, because so far the contribution of tourism industry in GDP has been approximately seven percent; we want to double this contribution," said Singh.
He added that barring the high risk countries almost all the others would be included in this system.
"Our effort is that except the very high risk countries we include all the rest of the countries for 'Visa on Arrival'," Singh added.
According to reports, visitors from countries including Israel, Palestine, Germany and the US, will be able to avail the electronic-visa facility from today.
In the first phase, Russia, Brazil, Thailand, UAE, Ukraine, Jordan, Norway and Mauritius would be reportedly getting the E-visa facility.
The countries currently enjoying the visa-on-arrival facility include South Korea, Japan, Finland, Singapore, New Zealand, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos will also come under the E-visa facility.
However, the facility will not be available to citizens of Pakistan, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Somalia.
