Taj Mahal: No more dollars

New Delhi, Oct. 26: Rabia Garib of Karachi, who plans to visit India soon, need not feel like a foreigner when she stands before the Taj Mahal.

The young content developer may still need a passport to enter the monument’s premises but will no longer be charged a dollar rate to see a piece of her history.

New Delhi, banking on cultural diplomacy to build stronger ties with neighbours, has decided that tourists from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) countries will be charged the same as Indians at heritage sites.

“The notification should be issued by the middle of next week,” a culture ministry official said.

“Saarc tourists will then just have to carry an identification proof and show it at the counter.”

From next month therefore, women tourists to India from other South Asian countries will not need to don the salwar-kameez to look desi but will simply flash their passport, pay Rs 10 at the gates and walk in.

The Archaeological Survey of India charges Indians Rs 10 at its world heritage sites and foreigners $5 (Rs 198). At the Taj Mahal, where the Agra Development Authority charges all visitors an extra fee, foreigners have to pay $20 (Rs 792) and Indians around Rs 35-40.

Rabia is happy she won’t need to shell out $20 to see the famed milky white dome. Whatever money she saves on her Indian sightseeing tour she plans to spend on “techie stuff”.

Tourism and culture minister Ambika Soni had announced the rate concession in July but it will be coming into effect only in November.

Symbolism apart, the reduced fees will encourage tourists from the Saarc nations to put more historical monuments on their itineraries.

“It’s a good move. People from South Asian countries cannot afford to pay as much as European, Japanese and American tourists do,” said Subhash Goyal, chairman of STIC Travel Group.

India is a big tourism destination for Sri Lankans and Nepalese. In 2006, Sri Lankan tourists accounted for 3.5 per cent of foreign arrivals in India. The Nepalese made up 2.1 per cent. Both figured among the 10 nations that sent the most tourists to India.