Cruise tourism is something that the tourism ministry is keen on promoting. As a result, the ministry is working on a project to attract travellers by developing seaports and providing ease of access to e-visas for travellers in theseports.

So soon, travellers arriving in India from other countries by sea will be greeted by swanky seaports in prominent coastal cities like Mumbai, Chennai and Kochi.

The ministry has written to the ministry of external affairs last month to clear this idea. The MEA has replied by saying that the idea still needs to be developed, as several ports in India are currently not ready to handle tourists.

"The MEA has spoken about better infrastructure, and the need to rope in the bureau of immigration and the CISF to man these ports," said Vinod Zutshi, secretary, ministry of tourism.

The 7,400-kilometer coastline along southern India remains unexploited, and in December, Mumbai's first cruise ship will set sail. It will be themed on Bollywood and cricket, and will travel to Mangalore, Cochin and thereafter to Maldives. There are 13 major ports in India, apart from 185 minor and private ports. Of these, only 61 ports function all around the year.

Of these, traditional visas are currently allowed to tourists arriving at 21 seaports. These include Alang, Bhavnagar, Calicut, Chennai, Cochin, Cuddalore, Kakinada, Kandla, Kolkata, Mandvi, Mangalore, Marmagoa, Morech, Mumbai, Nagapattinam, Nhava Sheva, Paradeep, Porbandar, Port Blair, Tuticorin and Visakhapatnam.

Zutshi however says that currently, despite this visa facility, the number of tourists arriving at these ports are negligible due to lack of infrastructure in this area. "Without facilities, there's no footfall. And the travel trade players are keen on developing cruise tourism along the coastline," he said. "We will also provide e-visas to foreign travellers arriving at these seaports."

Some of the most prominent seaports are the Kandla Port on the Gulf of Kutch, which was incidentally the first special economic zone in India as well as Asia. The Jawaharlal Nehru Port, also known as the Nhava Sheva, located on the West coast, has the distinction of being the biggest container port in the country. The Mumbai port is the largest in India.

There are two types of arrivals that take place in India -- turnaround entries and port of call. Turnaround entries are when cruises pass by seaports in India, and anchor for a day. In these cases, visas are not needed, and passports are retained by the shipowners.

In port of call, cruise ships take in new passengers or offload them. Cruise liners like the Royal Caribbean halt at Cochin and Mumbai. The ministry is mooting e-visas for passengers entering India under port of call.

The ministry is expecting over 90 lakh tourists this year, up from the 80 lakh tourists that arrived last year. In 2015, India registered 4,45,300 arrivals via e-visa. In comparison, this year there was a steep jump of over 300% with 6,06,493 arrivals by e-visa till August.

The move will come as a boon to the tourism industry, says Tejbir Singh Anand of the Adventure Tour Operator Association of India (ATOAI). "We have an exceptional coastline, but the ports are ill-managed. This step will take be a step-up for the sector," said Anand. He added that ports in Gujarat, Mumbai, Chennai, Cochin and Kolkata portsmust be developed.