The government is considering allowing into India people other than Indian citizens and Overseas Citizens of India cardholders.
The Centre is reportedly pushing business-to-business (B2B) travel to boost trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) as it looks to steady the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“With the world gradually opening up for business, the government thinks that there should perhaps be some measures to allow easier travel for people who wish to do so," a source told Mint.
Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.
In line with this, the Centre is considering allowing into India people other than Indian citizens and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cardholders, the source added. It is also looking to allow Indians who wish to travel abroad to do so on condition that the countries they go to do not have travel embargoes, the report said.
The government believes that restrictions on international travel need to be eased and the Ministry of Civil Aviation is already working on “bilateral air bubbles” to attract investments. These so-called bilateral air bubbles will be arrangements with carriers of the United States and France to operate international flights, they added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been vocal about urging foreign countries to consider the trade opportunities in the country. India also took centre stage after bagging close to $17 billion FDI from US technology firms Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook.
Analysts, however, told the paper that easing of travel norms should come with updated safety protocols as people would be cautious about coming to India given the high number of COVID-19 cases.