1,70,000 pilgrims from India going for Haj

New Delhi : The Union Cabinet on Thursday gave its approval to various issues concerning the Haj 2010 operations.

This year approximately 1,70,000 pilgrims from India will be going for Haj. Out of these 1,25,000 pilgrims will go through Haj Committee of India. The number of pilgrims who could perform Haj during a particular year is decided by the Saudi Arabian Government.

Air travel arrangements for these 1,25,000 pilgrims will be made by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. These pilgrims will be carried from 21 embarkation points through chartered flights. Bhopal and Goa have been added as new embarkation points this year.

This year each pilgrim going on Haj through Haj Committee of India will pay Rs.16,000 ( plus airport charges) as air fare and the balance air fare (cost of operations) will be borne by the Government.

This year most of the pilgrims will be carried by Saudi Arabian Airlines, National Private Air Services Company Limited (NAS) and Al-Wafeer Air, which have been selected through a sealed tender process.

Air India will coordinate the operations and provide support on cost basis, wherever required.