Dollar dreams, discontent drive a new Indian exodus

Launching the Global Access to Talent from India (GATI) Foundation, incubated by Teamlease, Convergence and Godrej foundations, the Union Minister for External Affairs underscored the need for “nurturing, expanding, deploying and upgrading talents”, to capitalise on opportunities from global demand.

India, as of now, is a manpower-surplus nation. Its people have no hesitation in migrating to any part of the world for quality jobs, higher-income opportunities and better quality of life. GATI Foundation recognises this opportunity and promises to help India realise its potential to the fullest extent.

This assumes that technological advancements, especially the job-threatening Artificial Intelligence (AI), notwithstanding, the demand for skilled manpower in high-income countries would continue to rise to 40-50 million by 2030, merely five years from now.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) data suggests that 32.29 million Indians lived abroad in 2023. These include 13.6 million (42.12%) Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and 18.68 million (57.85%) Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs). The PIOs are foreign citizens of Indian ancestry who have relinquished their Indian citizenship in favour of a foreign country, mainly because India does not permit dual nationality. The NRIs, on the other hand, are Indian nationals staying abroad on Indian passports.

India’s diaspora is spread across the globe, with the highest concentration in Asia – 54.71% of all overseas Indians – followed by North America (21.5%), Africa (9.76%), and Europe (9.07%). About 18% of NRIs and 38% of PIOs inhabit South Asian countries, making the region the largest recipient of Indian emigrants. More than half of Indian emigrants in 2020 were in the Gulf countries, with the United Arab Emirates alone hosting around 3.5 million Indians.

India’s overseas workers are not mere migrants for personal profit. They drive the economic engines of the host countries and contribute significantly to their home countries’ forex reserves. Most hail from economically disadvantaged backgrounds but are major contributors to India, accounting for over 75% of the country’s Rs 918,000-crore remittance economy. This remittance income is pivotal in supporting Indian households, bolstering India’s foreign exchange reserves, and fuelling consumption in rural and semi-urban economies. Yet, their economic contribution is overshadowed by the celebratory narratives around “successful” Indian professionals in Silicon Valley or Indian-origin CEOs of multinational companies. The structural exploitation, visa insecurities, and precarious conditions of working-class emigrants remain primarily unaddressed in State policy and public discourse.

What is, however, disquieting is that lately, an increasing number of Indians have been relinquishing their citizenship in favour of other nationalities. Between 2011 and 2023, nearly 18.8 lakh Indians gave up their citizenship. This figure, while small in proportion to India’s 1.43 billion population, is significant for its consistent year-on-year growth. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of citizenship relinquishment is 4.45% for 2011-2023 and 5.27% for 2014-2023.

The official statements describe these as “personal decisions” and that “the government recognises the potential of the global workplace in an era of a knowledge economy.” It has been argued that “a successful, prosperous, and influential diaspora is an asset for India”.

Yet, it is disconcerting that a significant proportion of those relinquishing Indian citizenship are multimillionaires and billionaires – not the working or middle class, who migrate to return to India as their economic conditions improve. A Kotak Private and EY report discloses that over 20% of Indians with net worths above Rs 25 crore intend to emigrate, citing better quality of life, governance, and business environments abroad. The phenomenon indicates an “emotional secession” of the rich from their homeland. Despite benefiting from State subsidies, tax concessions, and policy incentives, they relocate with their “bag, baggage, and business”.

They are not only seeking higher returns on investment but also a mightier passport. The Indian passport is powerful; it allows visa-free access to as many as 57 countries. Yet it is not as mighty as that of the US, UK, Canada, Australia or UAE, which entitles visa-free travel to 150-200 countries.

Amid this outward migration, the government has launched ambitious initiatives such as the Viksit Bharat Mission, envisioning India as a developed nation by 2047, paired with the ideological narrative of Amrit Kal – a Vedic-inspired “golden age”. The projections of the vision of prosperity, knowledge economy, and global leadership have not succeeded in retaining the business billionaires.

A rising sense of alienation

The dichotomy is striking. Even as India brands itself as a rising power with a $5 trillion GDP target and plans for $1 trillion in merchandise exports by 2030, domestic inequality is staggering. According to Oxfam, the top 5% of Indians control 60% of national wealth, while the bottom 50% hold just 3%. This inequality is reflected in migration patterns, where economic disenfranchisement and elite disillusionment coexist.

While India presents its diaspora as a soft power strength, perceptions abroad are not always welcoming. Racist undertones surface even in Western democracies. Donald Trump’s aide, Laura Loomer, recently labelled Indian migrants as “Third World invaders,” questioning the legitimacy of their global mobility. Simultaneously, India’s domestic politics are undergoing a disturbing transformation. The rise of the Hindutva brigade and communal polarisation alienate not just minorities at home but also Indian-origin populations abroad, who no longer see India as an inclusive homeland.

Indian migration today cannot be viewed in isolation from historical precedents, class structures, or political ideology. Whether the working-class labourer in the Gulf, the Silicon Valley engineer, or the billionaire investor moving to Monaco, their mobility reflects a broader discontent, aspiration, and systemic inequality.

While the State celebrates India’s diaspora as ambassadors of Viksit Bharat, it must also confront the contradictions within – rising inequality, political intolerance, and a deteriorating public infrastructure. The challenge for India is not merely to retain its citizens but to offer them a reason to stay. If home is truly where the heart is, it is time to ask: Why are so many hearts choosing to beat elsewhere?

(Furqan is a former advisor for education in the Planning
Commission and is presently chief advisor to the Chancellor of Integral University, Lucknow; Navneet teaches at the Central University of Himachal Pradesh)