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April 20, 2021

How many Indian HNIs have permanently left India for a new home? – The real story!

How many Indian HNIs really left India?                        

In the last few years, we have time and again read articles in the Indian media with the following eyeball grabbing headlines:

Being in the immigration industry with more than 28 years of experience, I was intrigued by these headlines and the alleged figures. Yes, India’s rich and famous are leaving the country and opting for a second passport but the numbers cited in many of these articles seemed preposterous.

I decided to do some research to determine if this was true. I picked out the last article and tried to reach the author of the article.  He was nice enough to send me the report which was referred to in this article. He also sent me a note saying – ‘Our figures are estimates’. 

I also reached out to the bank which has been part of the same report and quoted in several pressnote. The bank, however, has not replied to my email.

Regulatory Bank of India

 

Here is the official data from the Reserve Bank of India (the regulatory bank in India) of the remittance/investment made by Indian citizens overseas in the last 4 years.

Outward remittances/investments made under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) for Resident Individuals / Indian Citizens – Published by Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
(US$ Million)
Item2016-172017-182018-192019-20TOTAL of Four years
     
1 Outward Remittance under the LRS – TOTAL for the year8,170.7 11,333.613,787.5818,751.4052,043.28
1.1 Deposit283.8414.9455.94623.371778.01Investment
1.2 Purchase of immovable property92.989.684.5386.43353.46Investment
1.3 Investment in equity/debt443.6441.8422.90431.411739.71Investment
1.4 Gift749.51,169.71370.241904.535193.97Expenses
1.5 Donations8.88.58.6722.3248.29Expenses
1.6 Travel2,568.04,022.14803.816954.2018348.11Expenses
1.7 Maintenance of close relatives2,169.52,937.42800.883437.4611345.24Expenses
1.8 Medical Treatment17.327.528.5933.88107.27Expenses
1.9 Studies Abroad1,536.42,021.43569.874989.0412116.71Expenses
1.10 Others300.8200.6242.15268.741012.29Expenses
Note: 1.10: Includes items such as a subscription to journals, maintenance of investment abroad, student loan repayments, and credit card payments.

 

We can plainly see from the above RBI data that the ‘estimates’ cited in most reports and their subsequent press notes are nowhere near the actual figures. It appears that these articles/press notes are nothing more than self-serving paid advertorials.

By creating a hype that a large number of Indians are leaving the country by opting for a second passport, they perhaps want to popularize the Residency & Citizenship by Investment programs offered by different countries in India. They hope that rich Indians will join the bandwagon and sign up for these programs.

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