Riyadh: Saudi Arabia will allow 1 million domestic and foreign pilgrims to join the Hajj pilgrimage to Makkah in the upcoming Haj season this year, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced on Saturday.

The decision aims to enable the largest number of Muslims worldwide to perform the pilgrimage rituals, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the ministry.

Hajj Quota

The ministry of Hajj however has not yet revealed the details of country-wise Hajj quota of the total 1 million pilgrims.

Till 201, India was allotted a quota of 2.25 lakh. The Haj Committee of India has already received application from some 1 lakh Muslims who wish to perform Hajj this year. The fate of these applications will only be decided once the quota details are revealed by the Saudi government.

In case India is allotted less than 1 lakh quota then Haj Committee of India will require to conduct draw of lots to select the final list from the applicants.

The pilgrims coming to perform Hajj should be less than 65 years old and are fully vaccinated with the Covid-19 vaccine, noted the ministry.

Foreign pilgrims must submit a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours before their departure to Saudi Arabia, it added.

The upcoming season is expected to be the first to allow foreign pilgrims to perform Hajj, as the last two seasons were limited only to domestic pilgrims to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2021, the Holy city of Makkah received around 60,000 pilgrims, while in 2020 only 1000 selected pilgrims performed Hajj, according to the ministry.

Before the pandemic till 2019, over 2.5 million pilgrims of different ethnicities from all across the world used to perform Hajj every year.