New Delhi (TIP): In a move to boost tourism, nine airports equipped with e-visa facilities will be operational for 13 countries including USA and South Korea and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to launch it this month.

In order to give a major boost to tourism in India, the facility of Electronic Travel Authorisation (e-Visa) would be introduced at nine airports in the country where necessary infrastructure are being put in place, sources in government said.

The authorisation facility would be operational at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Goa, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Trivandrum and Kochi airports in the first phase and will be extended to other airports later.

The date of its launch will be decided shortly, they said. In the 2014-15 Union Budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley acknowledged the importance of tourism as a major job creator and announced the government’s intention to relax the existing visa regime.Besides tourists from USA and South Korea, visitors from all 11 countries which have been given visa on arrival facility are being covered under the e-visa scheme.