For an Indian citizen, no: there is no permit to visit Spiti or Kinnaur by the usual roads. Wikipedia records that Indian citizens once needed an Inner Line Permit for Spiti and that it was abolished in
Photos: Prasad Gaude (CC BY-SA 4.0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.
Both statements come with a date and a source below, and the date matters: the official page that states the foreigners' rule was last updated on 27 July 2023. Rules at the border can change faster than a travel page does, so confirm before you book.
Nothing on the Kinnaur district's tourist guidelines page asks an Indian citizen for a permit. What it does say applies to everyone. All persons moving in the notified area must hold a valid identity card, and their movement is regulated by the civil administration. Photography of military installations is prohibited, and those places and the locations overlooking them are out of bounds.
The same page says there is no access on the roads that lead to Shipkila and Kaurik from NH-22. That is a border road closed to visitors, not a permit you can apply for.
For the villages near the line, ask before you go. Our pages for Nako and Gue carry the same advice: ask in Tabo or Kalpa, and carry your ID. The Kalpa and Sangla guides found no published permit rule for Indian visitors either.
The district page sets out the rule. The part of Himachal between the Inner Line and the international border is a Protected Area. No foreigner can enter or stay in it without a permit from the competent authority.
There is a way in for groups. Foreign tourists in groups of two or more, sponsored by a recognised travel agency in India, can be allowed to visit a list of villages for 30 days. In Kinnaur these are in the Pooh block, among them Nako, Pooh, Namgia, Khab, Kanam, Charang and Kunu. In Spiti the list is Dhankar, Shichling, Poh, Tabo, Hurling, Lari, Gue, C.P. Samdo and Korik.
The page also names a route a foreign visitor can take without a Protected Area Permit: Kaza, Kibber, Prangla Pass, Baralacha and Keylong to Manali, for trekking. Kaza itself is on that list.
The Inner Line Permit costs ₹200 per person at an e-Governance centre, says the page, and the travel agency adds its own service charges.
The page lists the authorities that may issue a Protected Area Permit to organised foreign groups. They include the Ministry of Home Affairs, Indian missions abroad and the Government of Himachal Pradesh. The District Magistrate or Additional District Magistrate at Shimla, Kullu, Lahaul and Spiti, and Kinnaur may issue it. So may the SDMs at Shimla, Rampur, Kullu, Keylong, Kaza, Pooh and Kalpa. The Special Commissioner (Tourism), the DGP and the ITBP are named as well. For questions, the page gives the district tourism officer on 01786-222253, at the SDM office in Kalpa, Reckong Peo.
Spiti in eight days, Kinnaur in five days, and when to visit Kaza.
No. Indian citizens needed an Inner Line Permit for Spiti until 1992, when the requirement was abolished, according to Wikipedia. The official Kinnaur page is about foreign visitors. Carry a valid photo ID anyway, since the district says everyone moving in the notified area must have one.
Yes, in the border belt. The Kinnaur district page says no foreigner may enter or stay in the protected area without a permit. Groups of two or more foreigners sponsored by a recognised Indian travel agency can be allowed to visit listed villages for 30 days, among them Nako, Tabo, Dhankar and Gue.
The district page says the Inner Line Permit costs ₹200 per person at an e-Governance centre, with service charges payable to the travel agency. The page was last updated on 27 July 2023, so confirm the fee with the SDM office at Kalpa, or the district, before you book.
