Indians in Gulf and South-east Asian countries are likely to benefit the most from the first phase of repatriation exercise beginning May 7, as 80% of the flights planned by the government to bring back nationals stranded around the world will be sent to these regions.
The government has chalked a seven-day plan, a copy of which has been reviewed by The Hindu, as per which 64 flights will bring back 14,800 Indians. Of these, 50 flights are planned for countries in the Gulf and southeast Asia. These include Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines.
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The U.K. and U.S. will get a flight each day. San Francisco, New York and Chicago in the U.S. will get two flights each and Washington will get a flight during these seven days.
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Ten States in India have been identified as having the largest numbers to return with, of which Kerala will get 15 flights and Tamil Nadu and Delhi 11 flights each.
