Indians make up the largest migrant population in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries. Indians are the principal national group when it comes to acquiring rich-country citizenship in 2022 and this has been the trend since 2019 (1.5 lakh), according to OECD's International Migration Outlook 2023 report released recently.
In 2021, around 1.3 lakh Indians acquired the citizenship of an OECD country. The OECD is a group of 38 countries, mostly high-income and ranked high on the Human Development Index (HDI). India was followed by China and Romania. OECD-members are rich countries that have always attracted migrant populations and students. In 2021, 4 lakh new Indian migrants (excluding students) went to OECD-member countries. In 2020, the figure was 2.2 lakh, possibly due to closed borders during Covid.
Interestingly, the economic prosperity of India and the improving wealth of the Indians after economic liberalisation have coincided with more Indians seeking to migrate abroad. India has seen an upswing in legal economic migration. The outflow from India is not just restricted to English-speaking countries like the US, UK, Canada, and Australia but to Italy, Germany and The Netherlands. Indians migrate to other countries for better opportunities. To the advantage of the host country, they arrive with high skills and contribute to human capital development and technological progress. Indians have helped offset labour shortage by filling roles both in fast-growing and declining sectors of the economy of these developed nations. Overall, Indians abroad play a big role in putting India on the global map.
"Better economic opportunities are the primary reasons for Indians acquiring citizenship to rich OECD countries. Higher wages, improved living standards and career advancement plays a crucial role in this. Several OECD countries have skilled migration programmes that attract Indian professionals with skills in demand," says Abhash Kumar, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College, Delhi University.
"Indian diaspora in OECD countries helps promote trade and investment ties between India and these countries. The diaspora facilitates business relationships and cross-border investments," adds Mr Kumar.
A large migrant population means a huge cash inflow for India due to the remittances from overseas Indians and the money they park in Indian banks as NRI deposits. Both these factors help the country's external balance. Remittances from abroad obviously have a large impact on the individual families and increase their purchasing capacity. In 2022, the inflow was $111 billion, about 3.3 percent of GDP.
According to the World Bank, almost 36 per cent of the country's remittance inflows are sourced from high-skilled migrants in the US, UK and Singapore. Skilled Indian migrants in The Netherlands fill some of the critical vacancies in the IT sector. More than two lakh Indian migrants are working in the agricultural and dairy sectors in Italy. India and Italy are close to finalising a migration and mobility partnership deal. The agreement aims to ensure transparent and 'clean' migration to curb the exploitation of migrants by touts and agents. Portugal, Germany and Austria have already signed agreements on migration and mobility with India.
However, there is a flipside. Large-scale migration also implies India is still miles behind other developed countries in providing quality education, employment and ease of living. Indians continue to go abroad not only for greener pastures - better employment and money, work-life balance - but also because our education system is below par and so is the job market. It is not just high net worth Indians who have left the country; educated unemployed who couldn't get jobs here have also jumped ship. Millions of young talented Indians from various disciplines have left in search of better opportunities.
"India ranks low on happiness and peace (136), Human development index-131; Indian passport ranked 87th on the passport index released by Henley Passport Index. India still has partial capital account convertibility. The major reasons for leaving Indian citizenship are financial constraints, education of children, lack of social security benefits, tax legislations, healthcare, standard of living and ease of travelling," says Sujata Pandey, former director, Atharva Institute of Management, Mumbai.
As India's young, skilled labour force leaves home in search of better rewards for their effort and talent, it also means a lost opportunity for the country to grow faster. The loss of the fiscal contributions of these highly skilled individuals is a big loss for the country.
"Migration as well as Indians acquiring foreign citizenship deprives India of a huge tax revenue as the diaspora do not pay taxes for their earnings. It results in double drain for India. Firstly, the nation loses its hard acquired talent and skills- both technical and professional. When millionaires acquire foreign citizenship, the nation is deprived of the benefits of the huge investment of scarce resources made on education of these individuals by India," says TR Chandrashekhara, development economist.
Millennials raised with a western outlook in privileged schools find it easier to insert themselves in developed western countries than suffer the ignominy of the rat race and struggle in India. Their parents have the financial means to facilitate their life-altering decision.
The gaps that compel people to leave the country must be plugged. Ensuring better quality of life, job opportunities, social structure, financial and social security, development, gender equality, freedom in all walks of life are some ways the government can stop its human capital from becoming an asset to other countries.
India's rapidly growing economy and burgeoning pool of young talent are the envy of many nations. While Indian migrants continue to be our goodwill ambassador, the brain-drain challenge casts a shadow over India's growth prospects, especially when it aims to be a developed country by 2047.
(Bharti Mishra Nath is a senior journalist).
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.