As many as 16.45 lakh Indians have returned from abroad after the government launched the ''Vande Bharat'' evacuation mission on May 7 in view of the coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said phase six has come to an end and under this phase, 894 international flights and 142 feeder flights have been operated from 24 countries reaching 24 airports across India.
He said under phase six, 1.75 lakh people were repatriated. As on 30 September, 16.45 lakh Indians have been repatriated through different modes of the Vande Bharat Mission," he said.
"To meet the continued demand, Phase 7 of VBM has been operationalised from October 1, 2020. As of now, 820 international flights have been scheduled from 19 countries to be operated under Phase 7 during the course of this month," Srivastava said at an online media briefing.
These include mainly flights from among the 14 countries with which India has a bilateral 'air bubble' arrangement in place, he said.
These flights will reach 24 airports across India, repatriating an estimated 1.5 lakh people, he added.
The ministry has undertaken a further assessment of demand for repatriation from other countries and projected the requirements to Air India, Srivastava said.
Flights will be scheduled from these additional stations in the coming days, he said.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU