Over 2 lakh Indians renounced citizenship in 2024: Govt tells Lok Sabha

New Delhi: More than two lakh Indians renounced their citizenship in 2024, the government informed the Lok Sabha on Friday.

Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said this in a written response to queries on the number of individuals who have renounced their Indian citizenship and taken citizenship of other countries during the last five years.

The minister was replying to queries by Congress MP K C Venugopal.

"As per the information available with the Ministry, the number of Indians who gave up their Indian citizenship was 85,256 in 2020, 1,63,370 in 2021, 2,25,620 in 2022, 2,16,219 in 2023 and 2,06,378 in 2024, Singh said.

For reference, such cases were 1,22,819 in 2011, 1,20,923 in 2012, 1,31,405 in 2013 and 1,29,328 in 2014, he added.

The reasons for renouncing Indian citizenship or taking foreign citizenship are personal and known only to the individual, the government said.

"The government recognises the potential of the global workplace in an era of the knowledge economy. It has also brought about a transformational change in its engagement with the Indian diaspora," the MoS said.

A successful, prosperous and influential diaspora is an asset for India, which stands to gain a lot from tapping their networks and productive utilisation of the soft power that comes from having such a flourishing diaspora, he said.

The government's efforts are also aimed at harnessing the diaspora's potential to its fullest including through sharing of knowledge and expertise, he said.

In response to another query, the government shared that according to available inputs, the population of overseas Indians is 3,43,56,193, out of which 1,71,81,071 are Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and 1,71,75,122 are Non-Resident Indians (NRIs).