Electronic visa facility in final stage of development: Tourism ministry

Stressing on the need for "visa liberalisation", Dewan said India is ranked in the 39th spot in terms of foreign tourist arrival and offers visa on arrival to tourists from 11 countries.

"India has the highest per capita spend of a tourist in any country in the world," he said.

Describing domestic tourism as the country's "mainstay", Dewan said of the about 1.2 billion population, India has over a billion domestic tourists as per the 2012 figures.

According to Assocham president Rana Kapoor, the travel and tourism sector has emerged as one of the "key sunrise sectors" for India.

"India has signed 48 agreements with other countries and international organisations to widen links of friendship and mutual promotion of tourism. Due to this, total tourist visits in India has grown at a steady rate of 16 percent in the past five years with a forecasted increase rate of 12 per cent in the next decade," he said.