Foreigners visiting India with e-tourist visa are likely to be given mobile SIM cards soon with the Home Ministry giving in-principle approval to the proposal for promotion of tourism, sources in the home and tourism ministry said.

The Tourism Ministry’s proposal was discussed by the Foreigners Division of the Home Ministry and given a nod as part of the larger goal of attracting more tourists to India.

“Even though there are issues of security, communication is important for any visitor. Since we are giving e-tourist visa to citizens of a limited number of countries and that too after proper verification, we are giving our approval to the proposal of giving SIM cards to tourists,” a senior Home Ministry official said.

As part of the proposal, the Tourism Ministry is planning to gift a kit comprising a SIM card, maps, booklets and compact disk with information about various tourist destinations, guidelines relating to dos and don’ts and details on who to contact in case of any emergency, among other things.

The e-tourist visa is currently given to citizens of 113 countries, and the government plans to raise it to 150 countries by March 31. Tourists can arrive in 16 designated airports across the country.

Tourist visas on arrival enabled by the Electronic Travel Authorisation, also known as the e-tourist visa scheme, was launched on November 27, 2014.

Under this scheme, an applicant receives an email authorising them to travel to India after it is approved and the tourist can travel with a printout of this authorisation. On arrival, the visitor has to present the authorisation to the immigration authorities.

According to an official estimate, from January to November 2015, a total of 341,683 tourists arrived on e-tourist visas compared to 24,963 during the corresponding period of previous year, growth of 1,269 per cent.

The United Kingdom accounted for 24 per cent of those availing e-tourist visa facilities in November 2015, followed by the United States (16 per cent), Russia (8 per cent), France (7.6 per cent), Germany (5.6 per cent) and Australia (about 5 per cent). Canada had a share of 4.7 per cent, while China’s was 3.3 per cent, Ukraine’s 2 per cent and the Netherlands’ 1.7 per cent.