NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Tourism has formulated a national strategy and roadmap for medical and wellness tourism in order to boost medical tourism in the country.
The strategy includes developing a brand for India as a wellness destination; strengthening the ecosystem; enabling digitalization by setting up online medical value travel portal; enhancement of accessibility for medical value travel; promoting wellness tourism and setting up governance and institutional framework.
Giving this information in reply to a question in the LokSabha, Minister of Tourism G Kishan Reddy said the Government had liberalised e-Tourist Visa Scheme after Cabinet approval on 30 November 2016 ands the e-Tourist Visa (eTV) scheme was renamed as e-Visa scheme. It has e-Medical Visa and e-Medical Attendant Visa as sub-categories of e-visa.
In the case of e-Medical Visa and for e-Medical Attendant Visa, triple entry is permitted and extension may be granted up to six months on case to case basis on merits of each case by the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) / Foreigners Registration Officer (FRO) concerned. The Medical Attendant Visa was coterminus with the validity of the principal e-Visa holder.
The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare is coordinating with other ministries and stakeholders to promote medical value travel in the country.
