New Delhi: Italian Embassy today (Jul 22, 2004) announced opening of visa call centres in seven cities in the country from August 16.

The call centres would be at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Kochi and Jalandhar, Italian Ambassador Antonio Armellini told reporters in New Delhi.

"Our initiative is aimed at providing efficient, convenient and fast visa services in order to meet the growing demand for business, tourism and other types of visas in India," he said.

Armellini said that India is the first country where the system is being introduced, adding that contact and communication were imperative for better bilateral relations.

The call centres will be set up in collaboration with VFS India Pvt Ltd, a division of Kuoni India.

While the Italian Embassy would be the deciding authority on the grant of visas, VFS would be responsible for disseminating information, providing advice and guidance and accepting and scrutinising applications, VFS Operations Head Jervis D'Souza said.

However, student applications, diplomatic passport holders and adoption cases would directly be dealt with by the embassy.

"Visa applications from Delhi will be processed within 48 hours," D'Souza said.

Italian Embassy issued about 33,000 visas last year, Armellini said adding they were hoping to issue more this year.