Skift India Daily: India Resumes E-Visa Services for Saudi Nationals
Photo Caption: Tourist arrivals at Delhi airport. India has restored e-visa services for the nationals of Saudi Arabia.
Skift Take
India's curtailment of e-visas had been an impediment to grow inbound tourism in the country. Now only if the resumption of e-visas would be followed by increasing air connectivity between the two countries.
India has restored e-visa services for the nationals of Saudi Arabia wanting to visit the country with immediate effect, the Embassy of India in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia tweeted last week. The facility which had been available for five categories of travel — e-tourist visa, e-business visa, e-medical visa, e-medical attendant visa and e-conference visa — was suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic. The application and payment of fees are required to be made for a minimum of four days in advance from the date of travel and wait for the approval. For online filling and submission of the application, applicants need to visit the official website — indianvisaonline.gov.in. Earlier, Saudi Arabia had announced a few exemptions for Indian nationals to obtain a visa for traveling to the country as it looks to India as a key source market for tourism, especially with Saudi’s ambition to achieve 100 million visits annually by 2030. Saudi Tourism Authority during its recent delegation visit to India, featured a range of meetings, industry round-tables and networking events followed by two roadshows in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Saudi Tourism Authority has also, commenced an official partnership with the popular cricket meet — Indian Premier League.
Indian Railways’ South Western Railway (SWR) zone’s Hubballi railway station has entered the Guinness Book of World Records for having the longest railway platform in the world, measuring 1,507 meters in length. Built at a cost of about $2.44 million, the new platform is part of remodeling of the Hubball
