India curbs tourist dollars

NEW DELHI: Indian authorities have ruled that tourists visiting the country's monuments must pay at a fixed local rupee rate rather than in dollars to shore up revenues as the greenback falls against major currencies.

Entrance to many sites for foreign tourists in India is priced in dollars and then converted to rupees, meaning that authorities have been losing money this year as the dollar slid more than 12 percent against the local currency. The Ministry of Culture said in a statement that the move was "to avoid any anomaly on account of falling exchange rates of US $ vis-a-vis Rupee and consequent fall in revenues".

The government had fixed a $5 entrance fee for World Heritage sites like the Taj Mahal and $2 for other monuments at a time when the dollar was worth about 50 rupees. The dollar is now worth around 39 rupees. The new rate for World Heritage Sites is fixed at 250 rupees, meaning a foreign tourist will pay the equivalent of about $6.50. More than 4 million tourists visited India last year, bringing in around $6.6 billion in foreign exchange earnings.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com