Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has made a significant bid by her ministry to boost country’s tourist industry. She has proposed easier visa regime to the Home Ministry with the objective of increasing tourist flow into the country in accordance with the size and capacity that we can offer. Emphasizing that asking for easement of visa regime is aimed at boosting tourism in the country, she said that it also serves India’s services trade. Defining her concept of easing visa regime, the Minister said anybody visiting Bodh Gaya in Bihar would like to visit Nepal being on religious pilgrimage as Bodh Gaya is nearer to Nepal, and then he or she would want to visit Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh again as a religious pilgrim. He will have to obtain another visa for revisiting Sanchi in India and this is very cumbersome. In other words it means that in order to make such visits easier, multiple visas should be issued.
The initiative taken by her Ministry assumes significance as the services sector constitutes about 60 per cent of India’s GDP, but its share in global exports of services remains at a lowly 3.15 per cent. According to an industry expert, India is missing out on a huge opportunity worth about USD 80 billion annually in terms of attracting overseas tourists and foreign exchange.
In recent years, it has been noticed that the number of religious as well as medical tourism has noticeably increased. This has prompted the Minister to take the initiative and we are satisfied that this initiative is in right direction. We are aware that the easement already given by the MEA like e-visa or visa on spot has been very successful in attracting tourists in larger numbers. As the area has emerged as a prominent sector in India in terms of its contribution to National and State income, trade and FDI inflows, we are confident that the system is going to become stable and rewarding with the passage of time.
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