New Delhi: Delivering on the commitment made by finance minister Arun Jaitley in his 2015-16 budget speech, the home ministry will extend e-tourist visa scheme to 37 more nations starting Friday, taking the number of beneficiary countries to 150.
The countries added in the latest round include Albania, Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, Comoros, Cote D'Ivoire, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Iceland, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Moldova, Namibia, Romania, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Trinidad & Tobago, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
"With this addition, the total count of countries under the e-tourist visa scheme will rise to 150, as promised in the last budget," a senior home ministry officer said. The move is timed just days ahead of the presentation of Union Budget 2016-17.
The government had launched the e-tourist visa scheme on November 27, 2014. Until the latest addition, the scheme covered 113 countries with nine airports designated for providing e-tourist visa service.
Over 7.5 lakh visas have been issued since the e-tourist visa scheme was launched. This translates to an average of 3,500 e-tourist visas on a daily basis to foreign nationals.