Lok Sabha Question No. 3885 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-19
Subject: Visa on Arrival
Ministry: TOURISM
Asked by: MANSHANKAR NINAMA, RAMESH POKHRIYAL NISHANK, BHAVANA GAWALI (PATIL), ARVIND GANPAT SAWANT

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TOURISM

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.†3885 ANSWERED ON 19.03.2018

## VISA ON ARRIVAL

†3885. SHRI MANSHANKAR NINAMA: DR. RAMESH POKHRIYAL 'NISHANK': SHRIMATI BHAVANA PUNDALIKRAO GAWALI PATIL: SHRI ARVIND SAWANT:

Will the Minister of TOURISM be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has extended/proposes to extend the list of countries coming under the purview of visa-on-arrival for the purpose of tourism;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof along with the countries included in the said list and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) the  extent  to  which  the  said  facility  has  been  helpful  in increasing the foreign tourist inflow in the country; and
- (d) the status of international tourists visiting India along with the locations/tourist  spots/sites  visited  by  them  during  the  last three years, year-wise and State/UT-wise?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE FOR TOURISM (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SHRI K.J. ALPHONS)

(a) & (b): The Visa on arrival facility is presently extended to the citizens of Japan. However, the Government of India has extended e-visa facility to the citizens of 163 countries. The list of countries for which the e-Visa facility is available is at Annexure-I. Expansion  of  the  visa  on  arrival  or  the  e  -visa  scheme  to  more countries is a continuous process, which is done after appropriate consultation with all stakeholders.

(c) & (d): e-visa has been a game changer for Indian Tourism. The international  Tourist  Arrivals  to  India  has  seen  marked  increase since  the  introduction  of  e-visa  facility.  Foreign  Tourist  Arrival (FTAs) on e-tourist visa for the last three years are as below:

|   Year |    FTAs |
|--------|---------|
|   2015 |  445300 |
|   2016 | 1079696 |
|   2017 | 1697175 |

The  status  of  international  tourists  visiting  India  during  the last three years, year-wise and State/UT wise is given at AnnexureII.  The  Ministry  of  Tourism  does  not  collect  information  regarding tourist visits to specific location/tourist spots/sites etc.

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ANNEXURE-I

STATEMENT  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  &  (b)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.†3885 ANSWERED ON 19.03.2018 REGARDING VISA ON ARRIVAL.

e-Visa Facility is available for nationals of following countries/territories:

Albania,  Andorra,  Angola,  Anguilla,  Antigua  &  Barbuda,  Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium,  Belize,  Bolivia,  Bosnia  &  Herzegovina,  Botswana,  Brazil, Brunei,  Bulgaria,  Burundi,  Cambodia,  Cameron  Union  Republic, Canada,  Cape  Verde,  Cayman  Island,  Chile,  China,  China-  SAR Hongkong,  China-  SAR  Macau,  Colombia,  Comoros,  Cook  Islands, Costa  Rica,  Cote  d'lvoire,  Croatia,  Cuba,  Cyprus,  Czech  Republic, Denmark,  Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican  Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia,  Georgia,  Germany,  Ghana,  Greece,  Grenada,  Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana,  Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland,  Israel,  Italy,  Jamaica,  Japan,  Jordan,  Kazakhstan,  Kenya, Kiribati,  Laos,  Latvia,  Lesotho,  Liberia,  Liechtenstein,  Lithuania, Luxembourg,  Madagascar,  Malawi,  Malaysia,  Mali,  Malta,  Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro,  Montserrat,  Mozambique,  Myanmar,  Namibia,  Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger Republic, Niue Island, Norway,  Oman,  Palau,  Palestine,  Panama,  Papua  New  Guinea, Paraguay,  Peru,  Philippines,  Poland,  Portugal  ,  Republic  of  Korea, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden,  Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania,  Thailand,  Tonga,  Trinidad  &  Tobago,  Turks  &  Caicos Island,  Tuvalu,  UAE,  Uganda,  Ukraine,  United  Kingdom,  Uruguay, USA, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City-Holy See, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

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## ANNEXURE-II

## STATEMENT  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (c)  &  (d)  OF  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.†3885  ANSWERED  ON 19.03.2018 REGARDING VISA ON ARRIVAL.

Domestic and Foreign Tourist Visits to States/ UTs during  2014 - 2016

| Sl. No.   | State/ UT                 | 2014      | 2014    | 2015      | 2015    | 2016      | 2016    | Growth Rate   | Growth Rate   | Rank 2016   | Rank 2016   |
|-----------|---------------------------|-----------|---------|-----------|---------|-----------|---------|---------------|---------------|-------------|-------------|
| Sl. No.   | State/ UT                 | Domestic  | Foreign | Domestic  | Foreign | Domestic  | Foreign | Domestic      | Foreign       | Domestic    | Foreign     |
| 1         | Andaman & Nicobar Islands | 285146    | 17235   | 296684    | 14674   | 384552    | 15466   | 29.62         | 5.40          | 31          | 26          |
| 2         | Andhra Pradesh            | 93306974  | 66333   | 121591054 | 237854  | 153163354 | 341764  | 25.97         | 43.69         | 3           | 15          |
| 3         | Arunachal Pradesh         | 335974    | 5204    | 352067    | 5705    | 385875    | 6598    | 9.60          | 15.65         | 30          | 30          |
| 4         | Assam                     | 4826702   | 21537   | 5491845   | 24720   | 5160599   | 12685   | -6.03         | -48.69        | 23          | 27          |
| 5         | Bihar                     | 22544377  | 829508  | 28029118  | 923737  | 28516127  | 1010531 | 1.74          | 9.40          | 14          | 8           |
| 6         | Chandigarh                | 1061419   | 28365   | 1073842   | 29538   | 1182504   | 31549   | 10.12         | 6.81          | 25          | 25          |
| 7         | Chhattisgarh              | 24488465  | 7777    | 18327841  | 6394    | 16534471  | 9220    | -9.78         | 44.20         | 17          | 28          |
| 8         | Dadra & Nagar Haveli      | 579638    | 1799    | 527782    | 1797    | 589074    | 1891    | 11.61         | 5.23          | 29          | 34          |
| 9         | Daman & Diu               | 795167    | 4620    | 790911    | 5858    | 826201    | 5669    | 4.46          | -3.23         | 27          | 31          |
| 10        | Delhi *                   | 22626859  | 2319046 | 25258051  | 2379169 | 28460832  | 2520083 | 12.68         | 5.92          | 15          | 4           |
| 11        | Goa                       | 3544634   | 513592  | 4756422   | 541480  | 5650061   | 680683  | 18.79         | 25.71         | 22          | 9           |
| 12        | Gujarat                   | 30912043  | 235524  | 36288463  | 284973  | 42252909  | 343752  | 16.44         | 20.63         | 9           | 14          |
| 13        | Haryana                   | 7467064   | 314757  | 7395496   | 303118  | 7382995   | 331291  | -0.17         | 9.29          | 21          | 16          |
| 14        | Himachal Pradesh          | 15924701  | 389699  | 17125045  | 406108  | 17997750  | 452770  | 5.10          | 11.49         | 16          | 12          |
| 15        | Jammu & Kashmir           | 9438544   | 86477   | 9145016   | 58568   | 9414579   | 63207   | 2.95          | 7.92          | 12          | 17          |
| 16        | Jharkhand                 | 33427144  | 154731  | 33079530  | 167785  | 33389286  | 169442  | 0.94          | 0.99          | 20          | 23          |
| 17        | Karnataka                 | 118283220 | 561870  | 119863942 | 636502  | 129762600 | 461752  | 8.26          | -27.45        | 5           | 11          |
| 18        | Kerala                    | 11695411  | 923366  | 12465571  | 977479  | 13172536  | 1038419 | 5.67          | 6.23          | 18          | 7           |

| 19   | Lakshadwee p    |       7315 | 514             | 17241      |     1173 |       8716 |      753 |   -49.45 |   -35.81 | 36   | 36   |
|------|-----------------|------------|-----------------|------------|----------|------------|----------|----------|----------|------|------|
| 20   | Madhya Pradesh  |   63614525 | 316195 77975738 |            |   421365 |  150490339 |   363195 |    93    |   -13.81 | 4    | 13   |
| 21   | Maharashtra * # |   92632097 | 4389098         | 103403934  |  4408916 |  116515801 |  4670049 |    12.68 |     5.92 | 6    | 2    |
| 22   | Manipur         |     115499 | 2769            | 146169     |     3260 |     150638 |     3064 |     3.06 |    -6.01 | 33   | 33   |
| 23   | Meghalaya       |     716469 | 8664            | 751165     |     8027 |     830887 |     8476 |    10.61 |     5.59 | 26   | 29   |
| 24   | Mizoram         |      68203 | 921             | 66605      |      798 |      67238 |      942 |     0.95 |    18.05 | 34   | 35   |
| 25   | Nagaland        |      58507 | 2585            | 64616      |     2769 |      58178 |     3260 |    -9.96 |    17.73 | 35   | 32   |
| 26   | Odisha          |   10790622 | 71426           | 11786117   |    66971 |   12842766 |    76361 |     8.97 |    14.02 | 19   | 21   |
| 27   | Puducherry      |    1188093 | 83291           | 1297192    |   106153 |    1398289 |   117437 |     7.79 |    10.63 | 24   | 19   |
| 28   | Punjab          |   24271302 | 255449          | 25796361   |   242367 |   38703326 |   659736 |    50.03 |   172.21 | 11   | 10   |
| 29   | Rajasthan       |   33076491 | 1525574         | 35187573   |  1475311 |   41495115 |  1513729 |    17.93 |     2.6  | 10   | 6    |
| 30   | Sikkim          |     562418 | 49175           | 705023     |    38479 |     747343 |    66012 |     6    |    71.55 | 28   | 22   |
| 31   | Tamil Nadu      |  327555233 | 4657630         | 333459047  |  4684707 |  343812413 |  4721978 |     3.1  |     0.8  | 1    | 1    |
| 32   | Tripura         |     361247 | 26688           | 363172     |    34886 |     370618 |    36780 |     2.05 |     5.43 | 7    | 18   |
| 33   | Telengana       |   72399113 | 75171           | 94516316   |   126078 |   95160830 |   166570 |     0.68 |    32.12 | 32   | 24   |
| 34   | Uttar Pradesh   |  182820108 | 2909735         | 204888457  |  3104062 |  211707090 |  3156812 |     3.33 |     1.7  | 2    | 3    |
| 35   | Uttarakhand     |   21991315 | 101966          | 29496938   |   105882 |   30505363 |   117106 |     3.42 |    10.6  | 13   | 20   |
| 36   | West Bengal     |   49029590 | 1375740         | 70193450   |  1489500 |   74460250 |  1528700 |     6.08 |     2.63 | 8    | 5    |
|      | Total           | 1282801629 | 22334031        | 1431973794 | 23326163 | 1613551505 | 24707732 |    12.68 |     5.92 |      |      |

Source: State/Union Territory Tourism Departments *:     DTVs : Estimated using All India Growth rate and FTVs: Estimated using growth of FTAs at Delhi Airport

*#: DTVs: Estimated using All India Growth rate and FTVs: Estimated using growth of FTAs at Mumbai & Pune Airports

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