Parliament Question: Expenditure on Evacuation Operations

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-2081 ANSWERED ON 31/07/2026 EXPENDITURE ON EVACUATION OPERATIONS 2081 SHRI ARVIND DHARMAPURI SHRI BALABHADRA MAJHI SHRI SHANKAR LALWANI SHRI JUGAL KISHORE SHRI VISHWESHWAR HEGDE KAGERI SHRI NALIN SOREN SHRI VISHNU DAYAL RAM SHRI TEJASVI SURYA SHRI DULU MAHATO DR. SANJAY JAISWAL SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH CHOUDHARY SHRI KHAGEN MURMU Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state

(a) the mission-wise expenditure incurred by the Government on evacuation of Indian nationals from foreign countries during the last five years;

(b) the number of Indian nationals evacuated, State/UT-wise, including Telangana;

1(c) the number of Indian nationals who could not be evacuated or remained stranded, along with reasons therefor;

(d) whether any private or chartered arrangements were used for the evacuation, if so, the details of the expenditure shared by evacuees and the Government separately;

(e) the steps taken to strengthen real-time registration, mission coordination and communication with families during evacuation operations; and

(f) the specific difficulties faced by Indian Missions in coordinating evacuation operations, including any diplomatic bottlenecks with host Government? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

(a) to (f) Government of India evacuated over 32 thousand stranded Indian nationals from several foreign countries under various special 2evacuation operations in last five years. List of India’s evacuation operations during last five years along with expenditure details are attached at Annexure-I. State-wise list of evacuated Indian nationals under these operations is attached at Annexure-II.

After the onset of the West Asia crisis in 2026, Indian Embassies/Consulates facilitated the return to India of Indian nationals by arranging transit visas, local accommodation and transportation, cross-border movements, etc. Country-wise list these facilitated returns is attached at Annexure-III.

To ensure safety, security and well-being of Indian nationals abroad, Government follow a structured, multi-layered mechanism to closely monitor the emergent situations. Based on prevailing circumstances, Government issues advisories to caution Indian nationals and remain in contact with Indian Missions. Various communication mechanisms are put in place for Indian nationals to reach Indian Missions/Posts, including email, multilingual 24x7 emergency numbers, social media, toll-free helplines & WhatsApp numbers. Indian Missions remain in connect with Indian community groups to swiftly share the crucial updates. During evacuation operations, 24x7 Control Rooms are 3operated at headquarters and abroad to provide information and assistance to the stranded Indian nationals and their families and facilitate the evacuation. Government is also undertaking final trials of a digital emergency response solution for use during evacuation operations. The solution provides a platform for stranded Indian nationals to register with basic and real-time information, along with geo-tagging locations and seek assistance during crisis situations.

During evacuation operations, Government provides logistical support, including safe shelter, meals, local and cross-border movement and transportation and special evacuation flights as needed. Government also engages with various domestic and international airlines, shipping companies and transport logistics agencies in coordination with Indian missions to facilitate safe evacuation of Indian nationals.

Evacuation operations in conflict zones involves challenges related to security, airspace restriction, loss of connectivity, restricted land movements, etc., which are addressed in coordination with other Indian government agencies, Indian Missions and foreign governments.

Throughout any crisis, Government remains in continuous contact with 4concerned foreign governments through diplomatic channels to ensure the safety and well-being of Indian nationals abroad, as also to coordinate evacuation operations.

***** 5Annexure-I DETAILS OF GOVERNMENT’S EVACUATIONS/OPERATIONS DURING LAST FIVE YEARS Total number of Year Country & Name Expenditure Indian nationals of the Operation incurred evacuated Afghanistan 669 (including 15 other Operation Devi foreign nationals Shakti and 206 Afghans, 2021 1.90 crore which includes members of the Afghan Hindu/Sikh minority) Ukraine 18,282 2022 116.58 crore Operation Ganga Sudan 4,097 2023 (including 136 45.63 crore Operation Kaveri foreign nationals) Israel 1,343 (including 14 OCI 2023 16.87 crore Operation Ajay card holders and 20 foreign nationals) Haiti 17 2024 Operation 48.34 lakh Indravati Kuwait (Special Humanitarian 2024 45 (mortal remains) 12.84 lakh Airlift of deceased Indian nationals) Iran 2025 3,597 Operation Sindhu 27.68 crore 2025 Israel 818 6Operation Sindhu 2024-25 Syria 86 39.95 lakh 2022- Iraq 135 16.96 lakh 2025 Myanmar- Thailand Border 2025- (Repatriation of 1,741 76 lakh 2026 Indian nationals from Myawaddy- Thailand Border) Sri Lanka 424 (evacuated by special IAF flights HADR Operation on gratis basis) and 2025 5.80 lakh Sagar Bandhu 2,076 (facilitated by commercial flights) Iran via Armenia (Cross-border movement of Indian nationals from Iran via 2026 2,557 6.05 Crore Armenia to return by available flights during recent West Asia crisis) ***** 7Annexure-II STATE-WISE DETAILS OF INDIAN NATIONALS EVACUATED UNDER VARIOUS OPERATIONS State-wise list of Indians evacuated under Operation Ganga Sl. No. State / Union Territory Number of Citizens 1 Andaman & Nicobor 4 2 Andhra Pradesh 682 3 Arunachal Pradesh 1 4 Assam 53 5 Bihar 1003 6 Chandigarh 52 7 Chhattisgarh 210 8 Dadar & Nagar Haveli 5 9 Daman & Diu 5 10 Delhi 681 11 Goa 18 12 Gujarat 1020 13 Haryana 1436 14 Himachal Pradesh 289 15 Jammu & Kashmir 128 16 Jharkhand 158 17 Karnataka 615 18 Kerala 3343 19 Lakshadweep 4 20 Madhya Pradesh 412 21 Maharashtra 1025 22 Manipur 23 23 Meghalaya 40 24 Mizoram 1 25 Nagaland 4 26 Odisha 397 27 Pondicherry 28 28 Punjab 609 29 Rajasthan 934 30 Sikkim 26 831 Tamil Nadu 1479 32 Telangana 667 33 Tripura 32 34 Uttar Pradesh 1917 35 Uttarakhand 257 36 West Bengal 343 37 State name not available 272 Total 18282 State-wise list of Indians evacuated under Operation Kaveri Sl No. States Number of Citizens 1 Andhra Pradesh 106 2 Assam 13 3 Bihar 370 4 Chandigarh 1 5 Chhattisgarh 3 6 Delhi 27 7 Gujarat 492 8 Haryana 39 9 Himachal Pradesh 25 10 Jammu and Kashmir 1 11 Jharkhand 62 12 Karnataka 418 13 Kerala 172 14 Madhya Pradesh 20 15 Maharashtra 337 16 Manipur 1 17 Nagaland 3 18 Odisha 86 19 Punjab 62 20 Pondicherry 7 21 Rajasthan 87 22 Tamil Nadu 244 23 Telangana 129 24 Uttar Pradesh 800 925 Uttarakhand 24 26 West Bengal 52 27 State name not available 380 Total Indian Citizens 3961 Foreign Nationals (British- 3 + Sudanese-124 + Nepalese – 9) 136 Grand Total (3961 + 136) 4097 State-wise list of Indians evacuated under Operation Ajay Sl. No. State Number of Citizens

1. Andhra Pradesh 45

2. Assam 20

3. Bihar 29

4. Chattisgarh 6

5. Delhi 36

6. Goa 3

7. Gujarat 34

8. Haryana 28

9. Himachal Pradesh 18

10. Jammu & Kashmir 9

11. Jharkhand 13

12. Karnataka 39

13. Kerala 121

14. Madhya Pradesh 14

15. Maharashtra 108

16. Manipur 23

17. Meghalaya 2

18. Mizoram 1

19. Nagaland 2

20. Odisha 20

21. Punjab 9

22. Rajasthan 33

23. Sikkim 11

24. Tamil Nadu 131

25. Telangana 70

1026. Uttar Pradesh 145

27. Uttarakhand 14

28. West Bengal 248

29. State Name not available 77

30. Total Indian Citizens 1309 OCI Card holders (14) & Nepalese (20) 34 Grand Total (1309 + 34) 1343 State-wise list of Indians evacuated from Haiti to Dominican Republic under Operation Indravati Sl. No. State Number of Citizens

1. Gujarat 1

2. Karnataka 1

3. Kerala 1

4. Madhya Pradesh 1

5. Maharashtra 1

6. New Delhi 1

7. Odisha 1

8. Tamil Nadu 3

9. Telangana 1

10. UP 2

11. State name not available 4 Total 17 State-wise list of mortal remains brought back to India from Kuwait Sl.No State/UT Number of Citizens

1. Uttar Pradesh 3

2. Karnataka 1

3. Maharashtra 1

4. Tamil Nadu 7

5. Bihar 2

6. Kerala 23

117. Andhra Pradesh 3

8. West Bengal 1

9. Jharkhand 1

10. Punjab 1

11. Odisha 2 TOTAL 45 State-wise list of Indians evacuated from Iran under Operation Sindhu Sl. No. State/UT Number of Citizens

1. Uttar Pradesh 1198

2. J&K 1521

3. Laddakh 223

4. Karnataka 135

5. Delhi 114

6. Maharashtra 89

7. Tamil Nadu 71

8. Gujarat 56

9. Bihar 50

10. Telangana 31

11. Kerala 21

12. Andhra Pradesh 26

13. Madhya Pradesh 15

14. West Bengal 13

15. Haryana 8

16. Rajasthan 6

17. Uttrakhand 4

18. Jharkhand 3

19. Punjab 10

20. Chattisgarh 2

21. Odisha 1 12Total 3597 State-wise list of Indians evacuated from Israel under Operation Sindhu Sl.No State / UT Number of Citizens

1. Andhra Pradesh 50

2. Arunachal Pradesh 1

3. Assam 3

4. Bihar 30

5. Chandigarh 1

6. Chhattisgarh 2

7. Delhi 39

8. Goa 2

9. Gujarat 32

10. Haryana 21

11. Himachal Pradesh 7

12. Jammu & Kashmir 6

13. Jharkhand 7

14. Karnataka 32

15. Kerala 62

16. Madhya Pradesh 4

17. Maharashtra 93

18. Manipur 2

19. Odisha 16

20. Puducherry 5

21. Punjab 8

22. Rajasthan 25

23. Ranchi 2

24. Sikkim 2

25. Tamil Nadu 74

26. Telangana 37

1327. Uttar Pradesh 92

28. Uttarakhand 12

29. West Bengal 151 TOTAL 818 State-wise list of Indians evacuated from Syria in 2024-25 Sl. No. State/ UT Number of Citizens

1. J & K 45

2. Bihar 14

3. Uttar Pradesh 07

4. Andhra Pradesh 05

5. Tamil Nadu 05

6. Odisha 01

7. Rajasthan 01

8. Assam 01

9. Haryana 01

10. Punjab 01

11. West Begal 02

12. Kerala 01

13. Puducherry (UT) 01

14. Telangana 01 TOTAL 86 State-wise list of Indians evacuated from Iraq in 2022-2025 Sl.No. State / UT No. of Citizens

1. Uttar Pradesh 32

142. West Bengal 26

3. Bihar 18

4. Tamil Nadu 10

5. Andhra Pradesh 13

6. Telangana 2

7. Gujarat 3

8. Rajasthan 8

9. Kerala 3

10. Uttarakhand 2

11. Haryana 2

12. Chhattisgarh 1

13. Jammu & Kashmir 1

14. Madhya Pradesh 1

15. Delhi 2

16. Punjab 7

17. Jharkhand 1

18. Himachal Pradesh 1

19. Hyderabad 2 Total 135 State-wise list of Indians repatriated from Thailand-Myanmar Border in in 2025-2026 Sl.No. State / UT Number of Citizens

1. Andaman and Nicobar Islands 02

2. Andhra Pradesh 137

3. Assam 11

4. Bihar 54

5. Chandigarh 07

6. Chhattisgarh 02

7. Dadra and Nagar Haveli and 06 15Daman and Diu

8. Delhi 37

9. Goa 04

10. Gujarat 129

11. Haryana 110

12. Himachal Pradesh 45

13. Jammu & Kashmir 42

14. Jharkhand 24

15. Karnataka 95

16. Kerala 37

17. Madhya Pradesh 14

18. Maharashtra 209

19. Manipur 01

20. Mizoram 01

21. Odisha 11

22. Puducherry 02

23. Punjab 125

24. Rajasthan 76

25. Tamil Nadu 123

26. Telangana 105

27. Uttar Pradesh 206

28. Uttarakhand 53

29. West Bengal 73 TOTAL 1741 State-wise list of Indians facilitated from Iran to cross over Armenia through land-borders Sl. No. State / UT Number of Citizens

1. Andhra Pradesh 14

2. Bihar 112

163. Delhi 40

4. Gujarat 91

5. Haryana 25

6. Jammu & Kashmir 980

7. Jharkhand 04

8. Karnataka 32

9. Kerala 43

10. Ladakh 293

11. Madhya Pradesh 03

12. Maharashtra 51

13. Odisha 08

14. Puducherry 14

15. Punjab 19

16. Rajasthan 22

17. Tamil Nadu 585

18. Telangana 03

19. Uttar Pradesh 192

20. Uttarakhand 08

21. West Bengal 18

22. Foreign National (Bangladesh) 01

23. Foreign National (Guyana) 01

24. Foreign National (Sri Lanka) 01 Total 2560 17Annexure-III Indian nationals facilitated to return to India by the Indian Embassies/Consulates in the wake of West Asia Crisis 2026 Details of assistance No. of Indian nationals Sl.No.

assisted Bahrain 1 2500 (Assistance to obtain Saudi-transit visas) Lebanon 2 (Assistance to obtain flight 354 clearances for repatriation from Lebanon) 3 Israel (facilitated exit via Jordan) 248 Jordan (Assistance to Indian nationals within Jordan and cross- 4 1165 border movements from Iraq and Israel) Qatar 5 1,00,000 (facilitated travel upon partial opening of airspace) Kuwait (facilitated Saudi transit visas 6 30,000 and non-scheduled flight operations) Iraq (assisted in cross-border 7 3225 movements) Armenia (assisted in cross-border 8 3008 movements) 9 Oman 105 Total 1,40,605 ***** 18