India plans to double the the number of tourists from Russia and is set to streamline the issuance of visas for the visitors to boost the tourism sector as per a report in PTI.

Indian Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai said currently 120,000 Russian tourists visit India annually and their number is growing 25-30 percent. "We hope to double this number within coming years," Sahai told in Moscow at the end of his visit.

He said the liberalisation of the Indian visa rules for the Russian tourists and progress in overall easing of the bilateral visa regime will certainly added to further tourist exchanges.

Tourism Ministry is conducting a series of roadshows in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhastan to showcase Indian destinations there. Sahai is leading an Indian delegation comprising major tour operators, travel agents, hoteliers, destination marketing companies and airlines to interact with the local travel trade members there. The Minister also inaugurated an exhibition displaying literary and artistic works of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore at Moscow.

Sahai, who had a meeting here with his Russian counterpart Vitaly Mutko, said the two countries have agreed to launch an Indo-Russian tourism forum to resolve the obstacles in promoting tourism. The forum will work under the India Tourism Office being opened from October 1 in Moscow, he added.

India and Russia have also agreed to hold bilateral tourism road shows in each-others country to attract tourists. Sahai said that India was also willing to facilitate Russian FDI in budget hotels in India.

Indian Ambassador Ajai Malhotra, who was accompanying the Tourism Minister, explained that Russian nationals are issued a six months multi-entry visa by the Indian embassy in Moscow and missions in St. Petersburg and Vladivostok within three working days.

Sahai also did not rule out that sometime in future India could issue visa on arrival to the Russian tourists travelling from remote parts of the huge Eurasian giant.

Over 40 Indian tour operators were here to show case India''s prowess in offering a wide range of tourism products ranging from white-water rafting in mountains rivers in the Himalayas to basking on the golden sands of southern seas.