By IANS,
New Delhi : India has issued over 5,000 visas on arrival to foreigners from 11 countries till May this year, the tourism ministry said here Wednesday.
The maximum numbers were from the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia and New Zealand.
While 865 visas on arrival were issued in May, it was 1,234 in April, according to a statement issued here.
“A total of 5,004 visas on arrival were issued till May this year,” the statement added.
The highest number of visas on arrival were issued to visitors from the Philippines (206) followed by Japan (177), Singapore (149), Indonesia (122), New Zealand (121), Finland (57), Cambodia (18), Vietnam (6), Myanmar (4), Luxemburg (4) and Laos (1).
In the first five months, the highest number of visas on arrival were issued to New Zealand (1,067) followed by Japan (954), the Philippines (829), Singapore (745), Indonesia (673), Finland (573), Cambodia (67), Vietnam (38), Luxemburg (29) Myanmar (27) and Laos (2).
During the period January-May, the maximum number of such visas were issued at the Delhi airport (2,766), followed by Mumbai (1,166), Chennai (825) and Kolkata (247).
The scheme was first introduced Jan 1, 2010 for citizens of Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Singapore. Following a good response, the government extended it to six more countries – Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos and Myanmar – from January 2011.
India introduced the scheme in its bid to promote tourism and facilitate the visits of foreigners who plan their visits at a short notice.
In 2010, over 6,500 foreigners used the scheme to visit India.