The Hindu Business Line : First Indian visa centre opens in Beijing

India is looking to attract more tourists from China, and the Indian embassy proposes to open 12 visa application processing centres in the country to take the services closer to prospective Chinese travellers.

About 51,473 visas were issued to Chinese travellers going to India in 2007, as compared to 36,150 in the previous year, said Ms Nirupama Rao, Indian Ambassador to China, officially opening the first Indian visa application centre at Beijing on Monday. An exponential increase is expected in the future, she said.

Efforts are on to attract more Chinese tourists to India as part of the Incredible India campaign, she told Business Line, given that at present more Indian travellers go to China. Bilateral trade between the two countries touched $37 billion, she told media-persons, and added that there is an increase in business traffic.

VFS Global

The visa application processing in China is being undertaken by VFS Global Services Pvt Ltd, the visa-processing arm of the Rs 2,500-crore Kuoni Travel Group. It is the first Indian company to be awarded the contract to process visa applications for the Indian missions, the company said.

And like in Beijing, VFS will set up the other centres too with a local partner at the proposed locations: Shenyang, Wuhan, Kunming, Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Shenzhen, Chongqing, and Chengdu.

In 2007, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had taken a policy decision to outsource visa application processing in 30 countries, said Mr Sanjay Bhaduri, VFS Global’s Chief Operating Officer. The list included diplomatic missions across the globe spanning countries from the US to Australia.

The contracts were awarded after a tender process, and VFS has bagged contracts to process visa applications for the Indian embassies at Thailand, China and France, besides the Indian High Commissions at the United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, and Australia.

‘Opportune time’

The tourism related activity in China, Ms Rao said, comes at an opportune time, as the Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, is scheduled to visit China between January 13 and 15. He will meet the Chinese leadership and discuss a wide range of issues to strengthen strategic ties, she added.

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