Australian citizen Bibhas Dutt is currently quarantining at Howard Springs after returning from India where he left his wife and son, and urges the government to repatriate Australians in India to remote facilities like Howard Springs.

Mr Dutt told Sky News he had been in India with his wife and eight-year-old son for over a year, but returning to Australia proved to be a “big task” due to enormous costs and changing circumstances.

“The cost involved to come back is very high, and the flights – you won’t get straight away, and if you book the flight it might get cancelled at the last minute”, he said.

“It’s very hard, that’s why I had to come by myself because I could not bring the family”.

Mr Dutt said the cost of returning his family to Australia would have amounted to around $10,000 which included the flight into Australia, the quarantining, and the flight from Darwin to Sydney.

He urged the Commonwealth government to do everything it can to repatriate Australian citizens in India to remote areas like Howard Springs.

“The services are good – at least you can see some sunshine, some fresh air; you can speak to the neighbours with a mask on.”