Govt's big push to attract tourists: One-month e-visa at flexible charges

High visa charges is one reason that makes India less attractive to tourists and so the fee is being reduced to increase footfalls and foreign exchange receipts

The government will introduce one-month e-visa and make charges flexible, with fee for summer months — non-peak months for tourism — kept less than the rest of the year.

Leisure tourists will be charged $10 for a 30-day e-visa for travel between April and June, and $25 for any other month, Union Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel announced on Tuesday. Currently, India charges $80-100 for one-year e-visa for tourists from most countries.

India attracted 10.5 million overseas tourists in 2018, far fewer than some of the other Asian countries. Singapore received 18.5 million tourists while Thailand welcomed over 38 million foreign