The Ministry of Tourism is the nodal agency to formulate national policies and programmes for the development and promotion of tourism. In the process, the Ministry consults and collaborates with other stakeholders in the sector including various Central Ministries/ agencies, the State Governments/ Union Territory Administrations and the representatives of the private sector. Tourism is a major engine of economic growth and an important source of foreign exchange earnings in many countries including India. It has a great capacity to create large scale employment of diverse kind – from the most specialized to the unskilled and hence can play a major role in creation of additional employment opportunities. It can also play an important role in achieving growth with equity. It has the main objective of increasing and facilitating tourism in India. Augmenting tourism infrastructure, easing of visa regime, assurance of quality standards in services of tourism service providers, etc. are some of the responsibilities of the Ministry.