The move comes amid government’s decision to roll out e-TV to 31 more countries by June this year, ahead of the onset of the tourist season, a senior home ministry official said. After US, the e-TV has been extended to UK, Spain, Sweden, Malaysia and Turkey.
The e-TV is presently valid for entry at nine airports-Bangalore, Chennai, Kochi, Delhi, Goa. “Besides extending the e-TV facility to other airports, we have to upgrade the infrastructure too. In the first phase, we have to create 76 counters for the nine existing airports. The nine new airports will require 30-odd counters that will also have biometric identification machines. Anybody coming with an e-TV has to also give in biometric details,” said a senior official. The other countries that will be extended the facilities are Guatemala, Hungary, Ireland, Jamaica, Malta, Mongolia, Mozambique, Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Argentina, Armenia, Belgium, Columbia, Cuba, St Vincent, Grendiose, Surinam, Tanzania, East Timor, Caucas Islands, Uruguay and Venezuela.