New Delhi: The Kailash Manasarovar Yatra, deferred after the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) scare in Tibet, will now take place in the month of July following its clearance from the Chinese government, it was officially announced on June 18.

The first batch of 30 pilgrims is scheduled to leave Delhi on July 8 and the subsequent nine batches could have a maximum of 40 yatris, an External Affairs Ministry spokesman said.

In May, the Chinese government had advised New Delhi that with a view to ensuring that the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) remained SARS free, it was not allowing any tourists into TAR. On account of this the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra through the Lipulekh Pass route was postponed.

The spokesman said at India's request and keeping in view the importance of the pilgrimage, Beijing has said they were in a position to receive the pilgrims.

Minister of State for External Affairs Vinod Khanna presided over the selection of Yatris, which was done through a gender-balanced, computer-generated random selection process on June 17, he added.

PTI