India’s Haj quota for next year will be the same as this year’s. On Monday, 9 November 2026, India and Saudi Arabia signed the bilateral agreement for Haj 2027 in Jeddah, and the Haj 2027 quota for India was confirmed at 1,75,025 pilgrims, the Ministry of Minority Affairs said in a statement.
Union Minority Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju signed the pact with Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Dr Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al Rabiah, after the two held talks at the Jeddah Superdome. India’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and the Joint Secretary in charge of Haj at the ministry were also part of the meeting.
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What the Haj 2027 quota means
Saudi Arabia fixes a yearly quota for each country because space and facilities at the holy sites in Makkah and Madinah are limited. India Today, citing PTI, reported that these numbers are generally set on the basis of a country’s Muslim population and decided by the Saudi authorities in consultation with each government.
According to the ministry figures carried in the same report, India’s quota rose from 1,36,020 in 2014 to 1,75,025 in 2025. It stayed at that level for 2026 and has now been kept unchanged for 2027. Moneycontrol’s PTI report carried the same figures and quoted the Indian Consulate in Jeddah as saying the two ministers had reviewed ongoing preparations and agreed to strengthen coordination and logistical support.
How the seats are divided at home
The national quota is not handed out in one block. When the government released the policy in June, the Press Information Bureau said the split between the Haj Committee of India and private tour operators was expected to stay at 70:30. On a total of 1,75,025, that works out to 1,22,518 seats for the Haj Committee and 52,507 for the private sector. The same release said the government would try to raise India’s quota, but the agreement signed on Monday keeps it where it was.
The Haj Policy 2027, as explained by ETV Bharat when it was released, sets out what happens next. Seats for State Haj Inspectors are taken out first, at one inspector for every 135 pilgrims, an improvement from one for every 150 earlier. The remaining Haj Committee seats are shared among states and Union Territories in proportion to their Muslim population. Where applications in a state exceed its share, a computerised draw of lots called qurrah decides who goes.
The policy also sets an order of priority. Applicants aged 65 or above, including women of that age travelling without a male guardian, come first. Women aged 45 to 65 travelling without a male guardian come second. The top 20 per cent of the final waiting list from Haj 2026 come third, and fresh applicants for 2027 come last. Women aged 45 or above without a male guardian may travel in groups of four or more.
Where Haj 2027 applicants stand now
Applications for Haj 2027 opened on 22 June through the Haj Committee of India website and the Haj Suvidha mobile app. Siasat reported in July that the committee extended the deadline to 11.59 pm on 24 July after requests from several state committees and from applicants whose passports were still being issued. The committee called that extension final.
The same report said the online draw was set for 30 July at Haj House in Mumbai and would be streamed live, with selected and waitlisted applicants told by SMS. Pilgrims picked in the draw had to deposit an advance of Rs 1,52,300 by 10 August to keep their seats. With the quota now signed at the same level as last year, the number of confirmed seats available to the waiting list will not grow because of this agreement.
Other changes in the 2027 policy
The June release listed a few practical changes. The Short Haj Package, a 20 day stay first offered for Haj 2026, has been kept for up to 10,000 pilgrims, and Kolkata has been added as a departure point for it because of strong demand from the region. Medical screening has been aligned with Saudi health rules, and the ministry said people with chronic conditions would not be cleared to travel.
The ministry also said it plans to roll out artificial intelligence tools in phases. These include help with checking applications and documents, a voice and text assistant in Hindi, Urdu and major regional languages, and planned links with Saudi Arabia’s Nusuk platform so pilgrims get consistent information. Under the policy, every pilgrim aged 65 or above must travel with a companion aged 18 to 65, and a woman aged 65 or above travelling without a male guardian needs a female companion aged between 45 and 60.
The rest of the Jeddah visit
Rijiju was in Saudi Arabia from 6 to 9 November. According to the PIB statement, he attended the opening of the sixth Hajj Conference and Exhibition on 8 November, met Prince Saud bin Mishaal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Governor of the Makkah Region, and chaired a review of Haj 2027 preparations with the Consulate General, the ministry and the Haj Committee of India.
What pilgrims should keep in mind
Anyone still hoping to travel should watch the Haj Committee website and the Haj Suvidha app for notices on waiting list movement, payment instalments and flight schedules. Passports are central to the whole process, and our guide on recent changes to passport rules explains the basics. Mumbai, one of the departure points listed in the policy and home to Haj House, is also where the Haji Ali Dargah stands, while Hyderabad’s Makkah Masjid takes its name from the city at the heart of the pilgrimage.
Featured image photo: Arisdp, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. It shows the tent city at Mina near Makkah at night and is used here only as an illustration of the Haj season. It was not taken during the 2027 preparations.
FAQ
What is India’s Haj 2027 quota?
1,75,025 pilgrims, confirmed in the agreement signed in Jeddah on 9 November 2026. It is the same as the quota for 2025 and 2026.
How many seats go to the Haj Committee of India?
Under the 70:30 split described by the government in June, 1,22,518 seats go to the Haj Committee and 52,507 to private tour operators.
Sources
- Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Minority Affairs, 9 November 2026: Rijiju’s visit, the Jeddah meeting, the signing of the Haj 2027 agreement and the quota of 1,75,025.
- India Today (PTI), 9 November 2026: how Saudi quotas are set, quota history from 2014 and the Joint Secretary on the visit.
- Moneycontrol (PTI), 9 November 2026: consulate statement on the review of preparations and the unchanged quota.
- Press Information Bureau, 22 June 2026: Haj Policy 2027 launch, 70:30 split, inspector ratio, Short Haj Package and AI plans.
- Siasat, July 2026: application deadline extension, draw date and advance payment.
- ETV Bharat, 23 June 2026: Haj Policy 2027 explainer, draw priorities, companion rules and Short Haj Package size.