NEW DELHI, May 5: The Indian government announced on Monday that repatriation of tens of thousands of Indians stranded abroad will begin from May 7, an official statement said the facility, extended to Indians in distress abroad, would be available on payment basis.

It was reported by Hindustan Times that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid down the ground rules last month to give blue collar workers first priority among them who are facing health problems and need urgent medical care, had a bereavement in the family or cite any other humanitarian ground would be taken in the early round of flights.

The embassies in Gulf countries have been compiling details of distressed Indian citizens abroad for days, prioritizing the list of people who should be put on the initial round of flights.

According to the flight plan of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), 64 flights will be sent to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Malaysia, the UK, Singapore, Bangladesh, the Philippines and the US to repatriate stranded Indians

Kerala will send 15 flights for its residents- the maximum, followed by 11 each from Delhi-NCR and Tamil Nadu, seven from Maharashtra and Telangana, five from Gujarat, three each from Jammu and Kashmir and Karnataka and one each from Punjab and Uttar Pradesh

The routes that are being considered include Manila-Chennai, Chicago-Delhi-Hyderabad, New York-Delhi-Hyderabad, Kuwait-Kozhikode and San Francisco-Delhi-Bengaluru. Approximately, 2000 people from abroad will fly back to India daily.

During 1990 Gulf war, India evacuated about 111,711 people were airlifted from Amman, Jordan, to Bombay – a distance of 4,117 km (2558 mi) – by Air India, operating 488 flights in association with Indian Airlines, from August 18, 1990 to October 20, 1990 – lasting 63 days for free.