Visitors arriving on e-tourist visa in India will no longer have to waste time struggling to get their SIM cards approved. They will be presented with a free pre-loaded BSNl SIM card with talk time and data as a part of a welcome kit soon after their arrival at the airport.
"The initiative will help the tourists to immediately communicate with their relatives at home, hotels, tour operators and so on," said Union Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma after launching the much- awaited service here.
He said the talk time of Rs50 will be available on the BSNl SIM card with 30 days' validity and 50 MB data.
"The facility will provide ease to the tourists who have to spend about two hours to get their SIM cards activated after they land in India," said the Minister who had got the idea to provide the SIM cards to foreign tourists when he had got a similar card during his visit to Sri lanka.
Initially, the service will be provided at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here but will be later extended to 15 other airports in the country where e-visa facility is available, the Minister said adding that it will also help the travellers to contact the 24-hour tourist helpline number available in 12 languages for any assistance and guidance during times of need.
On reasons why the facility is available only to e-visa tourists, Sharma said the complete information about the travellers on such visa is readily "available in advance" which could be immediately synced with the data of concerned authorities for providing the SIMs.
Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi said over 10 lakh tourists had arrived in India on e-visa facility last year. launched on November 27, 2014, the facility is currently available for 161 countries.
He said the expenses on SIM cards will be borne out of the tourism promotion budget of the Ministry which he said is "well within the budget".
Tour operators' body IATO has hailed the initiative. "It's a great gesture and will make the arrival experience better for the travellers," Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) senior vice president Rajeev Kohli said.