A flight departed on Thursday morning from IGI airport to Saudi Arabia carrying a total of 285 Haj pilgrims. A total of 1,75,025 Indian pilgrims will visit Saudi Arabia under the Haj quota
The move comes when the country's foreign reserves are depleting and to attract more foreign exchange
The private tour operators argued that the levy is discriminatory as it exempts certain pilgrims who undertake the journey through the Haj Committee of India
The Central government has appointed C Muhammed Faizi as a member of the Haj Committee of India for a period up to March 31, 2025.
Last year also the government had decided that Muslims from India will not travel to Saudi Arabia for Haj 2020 after the Kingdom conveyed that pilgrims should not be sent
Arrangements are being made to provide coronavirus vaccine to Indian Haj pilgrims, the Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Tuesday
The committee received the maximum number of applications of about 95,236 from Kerala