More than 70,000 citizens have returned and nearly 17,000 flew out of India on Vande Bharat Mission flights till date, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday.

"More than 70K citizens have returned & nearly 17K flew out of India on VBM flights till date. In addition nearly 110K people flew out & 55K citizens returned on more than 730 charters on foreign & Indian carriers permitted by DGCA. Permission for more such flights is in process," Puri said in a tweet.

'Vande Bharat' mission is a Government of India's initiative to bring home Indian nationals stranded in various parts of the world due to restrictions over air travel to contain Covid-19 spread.

The exercise began on May 7 and its second phase started on May 16.

The third phase of the exercise will begin from June 11 and continue till June 30.