According to sources and officials in the ministry of Tourism, the government of India intends to introduce an electronic visa facility, to be called as the Electronic Travel Authorization, this year. It expects that this major decision, measure and step will propel it to the exclusive league of 4 countries which figure high in the domain of international tourism.
This step and decision was announced by a top official in the ministry of Tourism at an ASSOCHAM i.e. ‘The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India’ event, which took place in New Delhi on March 19, 2014. The announcement was made by Mr. Parvez Dewan, Secretary, Tourism, Government of India. He was at the inauguration of a seminar which had the title ‘Think Tourism-Think India: Thought Leadership Meet,’ organized by the ASSOCHAM.
Mr. Dewan further stated at the event that this was a historic decision and that this decision was supported unanimously by all the ministries concerned including the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), National Security Advisor (NSA) and the other related agencies. He also added that while the decision has been taken, further action and implementation would take some more time since, even as the software has been developed, it would take time to train the concerned man power in the relevant departments.
Also in the pipeline is the Indian Culinary Institute (ICI) which would be a ‘repository of every recipe’ in India. This institute will undertake both research and training of all cuisine which are widely liked and appreciated in India. The building for the institute will most likely come up in two years. ICI will start one campus each at Kolkata, Pinjore, Noida and the headquarters will be in Tirupati, Mr. Dewan added.
