The Central Government informed the Indian Parliament on 9 December 2022 that from the year 2011 to 31 October 2022, 16 lakh Indians have obtained citizenship of other countries, especially developed countries. Year-wise details have also been provided – 122,819 Indians obtained citizenship of other countries in 2011, similarly 120,923 Indians in 2012; 131,405 Indians in the year 2013; 129,328 Indians in the year 2014; 131,489 Indians in the year 2015; 141,603 Indians in the year 2016; 133,049 Indians in the year 2017; 134,561 Indians in the year 2018; 144,017 Indians in the year 2019; 85,256 Indians in the year 2020; In the year 2021, 163,370 Indians and in the year 2022 (by October 31) 183,741 Indians obtained citizenship of other countries. Since the year 2011, this number has been increasing continuously except for the year 2020, because this year the Corona epidemic took the whole world in its grip.

Of the Indians who have acquired citizenship in other countries in recent years, most of them have renounced Indian citizenship after acquiring citizenship in the US. In the year 2021, 78,284 Indians obtained US citizenship which is much higher than the number of 30,828 Indians who obtained US citizenship in the year 2020.

Due to which reasons Indians are getting citizenship in other countries, it comes to mind that many economic reasons are actually responsible behind this. First of all, due to the continuous rapid economic development in India, many Indians are spreading their business in other countries, for the purpose of taking care of this business, many Indian families provide citizenship to some of their members in other countries, especially in developed countries. Getting it done Because according to the currently issued rules, any person can get citizenship of only one country. If a person has acquired US citizenship, he has to give up his Indian citizenship. Secondly, Indian youth having higher education especially in technical field like Information Technology are getting maximum employment opportunities in developed countries, and the salary in these countries is also much higher than in India. Today, citizens of Indian origin in the US who are employed in higher education and high-skill fields earn an average salary of more than $125,000 per annum, while the average salary of citizens living in the US is around $70,000 per annum. First, more availability of jobs and secondly higher salaries, these are very important factors which are attracting highly educated Indians to get employment in other countries. Third, many developed countries have special investment schemes aimed at speedy granting of citizenship to citizens of other countries. Under these schemes, if a foreign citizen invests a pre-determined amount in these countries and creates pre-determined number of new employment opportunities in that country, then the citizenship of that country will be provided quickly under the ‘Golden Visa Route’. is done. Due to this reason also many Indians are investing their huge amount in these countries and getting citizenship of these developed countries through this channel. In the year 2021, the number of Indian citizens receiving information to settle in England through the ‘Golden Visa Route’ increased by 54 percent in the year 2021. Now European countries, Portugal, Malta, Greece, Australia, America, Canada, England etc. are also trying to attract Indians to their respective countries by implementing such schemes.

Since India is developing rapidly in the economic field for the last about 8-9 years, it has become an area of ​​attraction for the whole world. Foreign investment in India is increasing at a very fast pace and many multinational companies are continuously setting up their industrial and manufacturing units in India, due to which many Indians have also achieved unimaginable progress in the economic sector, due to which many Indians are setting up their business units. Other countries especially want to spread their business globally by setting up in developed countries also, so these countries are seen as an attraction for this class. Anyway, now the whole world has taken the form of a global village in a way.

Due to the continuous rapid economic development in the country, the economic condition of many Indians has improved so much that they have started traveling with their families to many developed countries from the point of view of tourism. In the year 2019, 252,71,965 Indians have traveled to other countries, due to the Corona epidemic, this number was reduced to 66,25,080 in the year 2020 and 77,24,864 in the year 2021, but again in the year 2022 (by 31 October) Has increased rapidly to 183,12,602. During their visit to the developed countries, these Indians get attracted towards these countries after being greatly influenced by the standard of living and very easy lifestyle of the citizens living there. After coming to India, these families constantly start trying to see how their children get employment in these developed countries and as soon as they get the opportunity, that is, many Indians go to settle in these developed countries as soon as they get employment. . Also, today millions of Indians are turning towards developed countries for the purpose of getting higher education and employment in high-skilled areas abroad and starting their business because in these countries these Indians get comparatively much higher salary. Used to be. In these developed countries, as soon as citizens of Indian origin get their citizenship, they invite other members of their family to these countries and settle in these developed countries with their families.

A report published by Morgan Stanley in the Economic Times in the year 2018 states that between 2014 and 2018, 23,000 Indians in the category of dollar millionaires from India obtained citizenship in other countries. A person with a net worth of more than US$ 10 million is called a Dollar Millionaire. Similarly, according to the Global Wealth Migration Review data, in the year 2020, 7,000 Indians in the category of dollar millionaires have obtained citizenship in other countries, especially the US. The said number is 2.1 percent of the total number of Dollar Millionaires in India. The highest number of 16,000 citizens of the dollar millionaire category from China have obtained citizenship in other countries. India and Russia come next in this list after China. Dollar millionaire citizens from different countries are getting citizenship especially in countries like USA, Australia, Switzerland, Canada, Singapore. Because very easy rules have been implemented to do business in these countries. A lot of land is available in these countries and from the point of view of environment also these countries are felt comparatively safe. Education and health facilities are also available in these countries on the basis of very high standards. All these countries come under the category of developed countries, so every type of facility is available here in proper quantity. There is a suitable environment for the growth of business, the standard of living of the citizens is also very high. However, maximum exploitation of this earth has also been done in these countries only.

– Prahlad Sabnani

Retired Deputy General Manager,

State Bank of India