Travellers visiting Puducherry, a former French outpost, for its scenic seashores and heritage structure can quickly rent fully-equipped camper vans with queen-size convertible beds, washroom, good tv, speaker techniques, air-condition, and a kitchenette amongst others.
Puducherry is the most recent to hitch the bandwagon of caravan tourism, which is taken into account a luxurious phase. The caravan tradition has grown in recognition lately in India, particularly within the southern States of Karnataka and Kerala.
In a transfer geared toward strengthening its tourism attraction, the Puducherry Transport Department has opened its doorways and introduced camper vans and caravans below a proper tax construction. This key initiative facilitates the issuance of permits not just for Puducherry-registered automobiles, but additionally for automobiles from different States, via a handy tax system for 3, seven and 30-day durations.
According to Transport Commissioner A.S. Sivakumar, “The new tax policy notified by the Government covers vehicles registered as camper vans or caravans, classified under Public Service Vehicle, Contract Carriage, or Transport categories, regardless of their seating capacity.”
Tax construction
The annual tax construction for gentle and medium automobiles and heavy automobiles is ₹32,000 and ₹48,000 respectively. The automobiles may be employed for 3 days, seven days and 30 days period with tax slabs starting from ₹860 to ₹4,200 for gentle and medium automobiles and ₹1,340 to ₹8,800 for heavy automobiles.
He added, “This structured framework is expected to significantly boost tourism, especially in the growing segment of road-based travel and adventure tourism. It allows travellers from across India to explore Puducherry in their own caravans, bringing both convenience and compliance under one roof.”
With Puducherry being a most well-liked vacation spot for film taking pictures, the transfer is anticipated to offer a fillip for movie tourism. With Puducherry’s distinctive mix of French colonial appeal, scenic seashores, and heritage structure, the area has lengthy been a favoured location for movie and commercial shoots.
The new non permanent tax permits make it simpler for movie manufacturing items to usher in their cellular vans, crew caravans, and help automobiles, encouraging extra filmmakers to contemplate Puducherry as their prime vacation spot.
According to an official, “This initiative will lead to increased footfall from road trip enthusiasts and eco-tourists, growth in mobile tourism and camper-based holidays, and greater influx of film production teams, enhancing Puducherry’s profile as a creative hub.”
While many States have caravan tourism, the difficulty of permits has not been explored up to now. As a consequence, automobiles face hurdles throughout transit. However, Puducherry has come out with a proper construction. This will be certain that Puducherry cements its place as a tourism-forward and film-friendly vacation spot, welcoming travellers, explorers, and creators alike – with clear guidelines, smoother logistics, and open roads, Mr. Sivakumar added.
Published – June 08, 2025 01:12 pm IST
