Dr. Paarivendhar, Lok Sabha raises crucial questions about foreign tourists

There was no proposal currently under consideration by the Centre to reimburse GST to foreign tourists at Airport on arrival to India, Union Minister for Tourism and Culture, G.Kishan Reddy, said at the Parliament today.

The Minister was responding to Dr. T.R.Paarivendhar, Member of Parliament Lok Sabha from Perambalur Constituency Dr. Paarivendhar sought to know from the Centre if they were considering to provide GST exemption to foreign tourists for local shopping to boost tourism.

The Perambalur Lok Sabha MP, who is the Founder Chancellor of SRM Group of Institutions, also sought to know the details if such an exemption was given. Further, he also asked if the Government had signed any agreement with any other country to promote tourism in the country or if such plan was underway. Dr. Paarivendhar also sought details about the total number of foreign tourist arrivals after the lockdown.

Reddy said the signing of agreements or a Memorandum of Understanding was an ongoing process, and the Ministry of Tourism had signed 46 such agreements and MoUs with different countries and multilateral forums for bilateral and multilateral cooperation for strengthening and promoting Indian tourism products. The Minister also replied that while 27.44 lakh foreign tourists arrived in India for the period between January and December 2020, the number dipped to 15.27 lakh in 2021. However, the provisional number of foreign tourist arrivals in India between January and December 2022 stood at 61.91 lakh.