Visa-On-Arrival scheme registers growth of 24 percent in January 2013

New Delhi, Feb. 12 (ANI): The Visa on Arrival (VOA) scheme of the Indian Government registered a growth of 24.4 per cent in January 2013 as compared to January 2012.

A total number of 1,690 Visas on arrival were issued last month as compared to 1,359 VoAs issued in January 2012.

The number of VoAs issued under this scheme during January 2013 for nationals of the eleven countries were : Japan (529), New Zealand (367), the Philippines (209), Singapore (186), Indonesia (181), Finland (167), Cambodia (17), Vietnam (16), Luxembourg (11), Myanmar (6) and Laos (1).

During January 2013, the highest number of VoAs were issued at Delhi airport (901) followed by Mumbai (427), Chennai (267) and Kolkata (95).

As a facilitative measure to attract more foreign tourists to India, the Government launched the "Visa on Arrival" (VoA) Scheme in January 2010 for citizens of five countries, viz. Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Singapore, visiting India for tourism purposes.

The Government extended this Scheme to the citizens of six more countries, namely Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos and Myanmar in January 2011. (ANI)

Sourced: Yahoo! News