Visitors to India from 11 countries will be eligible to obtain visa on arrival at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here with effect from May 31.
The Central government has introduced the Indian tourist visa on arrival scheme on January 1, 2010, at some airports and the facility was available to citizens of only five countries.
Subsequently, a year later, it covered total 11 countries. Now, the facility could be availed at RGIA from this month-end.
The tourist visa on arrival, with a validity of 30 days, will be granted by immigration officials at RGIA to the citizens of Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines, Myanmar and Indonesia.
SGK Kishore, CEO-GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), said, “The visa on arrival scheme will facilitate enhanced tourism opportunities to India and specifically Hyderabad and the State of Andhra Pradesh. This initiative by the Central government will position RGIA as a preferred point of entry for foreign tourists planning to visit India.”
The RGIA has recently been ranked No. 2 by the Airport Council International (ACI) in the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) survey in the 5 million to 15 million passengers per annum (mppa) category, with a score of 4.71 for the year 2012, just trailing the 1st rank by 0.004 points.