India to give visa on arrival to Japanese visitors from March 1

New Delhi, Feb 29 (IANS) Japanese nationals visiting India will start getting visa on arrival from March 1, it was announced on Monday.

"As announced by Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), the visa on arrival for Japanese nationals is being launched from tomorrow i.e. 1st March, 2016," an official statement said.

This facility will be available at six airports - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and can be availed for the purposes of business, tourism, conference and medical treatment.

"On an average, 600 Japanese nationals arrive at Delhi airport daily. It is expected that extension of this facility to Japanese nationals will further strengthen the business and tourism ties between the two countries," the statement added.

Validity of this visa after entry will be for a period of 30 days, it said.

About 1.80 lakh Japanese nationals visit India every year on various kinds of visas. Business and tourist visas constitute around 78 percent of these visas.

During the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to India during December last year, Prime Minister Modi had announced that India will extend visa on arrival to Japanese citizens from March 1, 2016.