Foreign tourists availing e-visas will now get pre-activated free SIM cards as they arrive in India, a move hailed by tour operators’ body Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO).
Initially, the service will be provided at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in Delhi but will be later extended to 15 other airports in the country where e-visa facility is available, he added.
Pre-loaded sim card for tourists arriving in India on E-visa launched today @tourismgoi pic.twitter.com/lZfp5bXfBg
— Incredible!ndia (@incredibleindia) February 15, 2017
Launching the much awaited service, tourism minister Mahesh Sharma said the talk time to the tune of Rs 50 will be available on the BSNL SIM card which will also have 50 MB data.
“The initiative will help the tourists to immediately communicate with their relatives at home, hotels, tour operators and so on. I got this idea when I had got a similar card when I had visited Sri Lanka,” Sharma said.
The minister said 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.
The SIM card, with 30 days’ validity, will also help the travellers to contact the 24-hour tourist helpline number available in 12 languages, including Russian, German and Japanese.
Hon. Tourism Minister, @dr_maheshsharma has launched free pre-loaded SIM cards for tourists from 161 countries on e-Visa in #NewDelhi today pic.twitter.com/OXGa9k7w4L
— Incredible!ndia (@incredibleindia) February 15, 2017
To a query as to why the facility is available only to e-visa tourists, he 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.