New Delhi : Visa-on-arrival is back on the radar. A group of ministers has recommended introducing it for select countries on an experimental basis in Delhi and Mumbai. The group on the tourism industry and trade, chaired by HRD minister Arjun Singh, met recently. It has recommended an increase in air seat capacity to key source tourism markets for India and permission to foreign airlines to operate during the peak period without any commercial agreements.

Some of these moves were almost finalised by the NDA government but were then put on hold for security reasons. Sixteen countries had been identified for the pilot visa-on-arrival scheme, and 15 as source tourism markets.

The GoM consists of the ministers of tourism, parliamentary affairs and urban development, culture, commerce and industry, civil aviation, overseas affairs and urban poverty alleviation.

It came up with suggestions on meeting the scarcity of hotel accomodation, too. It has decided to set up a tsk force - with representatives of the ministries of railways, civil aviation, urban development, tourism, Delhi Development Authority, PlanningCommission, Tourism Finance Corporation of India and toursim industry - to examine what to do.