Government mulls providing complimentary local SIM cards for foreign tourists

NEW DELHI: Foreign tourists visiting India are likely to soon enjoy complimentary local SIM cards, as the government is contemplating giving away local mobile phone connections with 30 days validity to foreign tourists with their e-tourist visas. The development comes after tourism minister Mahesh Sharma met communications and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday to discuss modalities.

According to sources, the government has set up a panel of secretaries headed by tourism secretary Vinod Zutshi with telecom secretary Rakesh Garg, foreign secretary S Jaishankar and home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi as members.