The government has eased restrictions to allow Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) card holders from all countries to enter India.
The move ahead of the festive season would enable persons of Indian origin to visit India and meet their friends and relatives. But the move will not have much impact on flight and hotel occupancies as restrictions continue on leisure travel.
The government clamped down on overseas air travel in March to curb the spread of Covid-19 but from subsequent months it has been gradually opening up entry for certain categories of OCI card holders and foreign nationals including business visitors, healthcare professionals, engineers and technical specialists among others. The purpose and urgency of travel had been crucial factor in issuance of visa.
Now the government has decided to ease the restrictions further to help contribute to economic growth.
"It has been decided to permit all OCI and PIO (persons of Indian origin) card holders and all other foreign nationals intending to visit India for any purpose, except on a tourist visa to enter by air or water routes through authorised airports and seaport immigration check posts," the union home ministry said in a press release.
"This decision will enable foreign nationals to come to India for various purposes such as business, conferences, employment, studies, research and medical purposes," it added.
Also earlier OCI card holders of only those countries which have entered into air travel bubble were permitted to enter India.
The government has also decided to restart online visa applications, it is learnt. Online applications were suspended following Covid-19 outbreak and those intending to travel to India had to visit an embassy or consulate for a visa application.
"A lot of unnecessary travel would have taken place if restrictions had not been imposed. Even now overseas visitors will have to adhere to quarantine regulations after their arrival in India," an official said.
"Travel sentiment is still not positive and people will visit India only if there is a sense of urgency," said a senior executive of private airline. Quarantine restrictions continue to be a dampener for travel, another executive said.
"Hotels could see a slight improvement in occupancy from visiting friends and relatives category (VFR). But this will not be significant as there is general resistance to overseas travel due to Covid-19 pandemic," said Nandivardhan Jain, CEO of Noesis Capital Advisors.
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