New Delhi: The government informed the Rajya Sabha that over 2.16 lakh Indians gave up their citizenship in 2023. Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh mentioned this in a written response to questions about Indian citizens who have renounced their citizenship over the past five years.
In 2023, 2,16,219 (2.16 lakh) Indians gave up their citizenship. The number was 2,25,620 (2.25 lakh) in 2022; 1,63,370 (1.63 lakh) in 2021; 85,256 in 2020; and 1,44,017 (1.44 lakh) in 2019, according to the data. When Aam Aadmi Party member Raghav Chadha asked whether the government had looked into why so many people are giving up their Indian citizenship, Singh said: "The reasons for renouncing/taking citizenship are personal".
"The government recognizes the potential of the global workplace in an era of a knowledge economy. It has also brought about a transformational change in its engagement with the Indian diaspora," he added, stressing that "a successful, prosperous, and influential diaspora is an "asset for India".
“India stands to gain a lot from tapping its diaspora networks and productive utilization of the soft power that comes from having such a flourishing diaspora. The government's efforts are also aimed at harnessing the diaspora potential to its fullest including through sharing of knowledge and expertise,” Singh told the Rajya Sabha.
Exodus of high net worth Indians economic travesty: CongressThe Congress party said the exodus of high-skilled and high net worth Indians is an "economic travesty" that will shrink the country's tax revenue base over the next few years. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said business personalities are increasingly relocating to places such as Singapore, UAE, the UK, and other places renouncing their Indian citizenship. He said that the number of Indians renouncing citizenship in 2023 was almost double of what it was in 2011. Many of these Indians who renounced their citizenship are highly skilled and educated, and their leaving the country at a time of a domestic skilled labor supply shortage will "extract a serious toll on our economy," Ramesh said. |
