Now, flexible Indian tourist e-visas for 160 countries

India is gearing up to roll out a flexible e-tourist visa regime for over 160 countries based on tourist footfall under which higher fee will be charged for the peak season of July to March and a considerably lower fee during the lean period of April to June.

The fee for e-visa with a validity of 30 days to five years would range between USD 10 and USD 80.

Under the flexible e-visa regime, tourists from all the countries to which India has extended e-visa facility would require to pay USD 10 for a 30-day e-visa in the lean season. They will have to pay USD 25 in the peak period.

For one-year e-visa, tourists from these countries would have to pay USD 40 and USD 80 for e-visa with five-year validity.

For tourists coming from Japan, Singapore and Sri Lanka, e-visa fee for one-year and five-year would be kept at USD 25.

There will be no visa fee for the tourists from 14 Pacific Island nations belonging to Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC)--Fiji, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue Island, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Tourists coming from Myanmar, Argentina, Indonesia, Jamaica, Mauritius, Seychelles, South Africa and Uruguay would not have to pay any visa fee under the scheme.

“India will offer 30-day e-tourist visa with USD 10 fee during lean period April to June and USD 25 fee during peak tourism period from July to March," Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel said while addressing a meeting of the state tourism departments representative

The move was aimed at boosting foreign tourists arrivals in India, he added.

Both the Home Ministry and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) have given approval to the flexible e-tourist visa regime.