1.28 million NRIs live in the US, .25 million in Australia and .17 million  in Canada

NAGPUR, INDIA (TIP): Of the estimated 10.34 million  Non-Resident Indians, more than 66 per cent are in the Gulf countries of UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain, the External Affairs Ministry has said in an RTI reply. The data is as of March 2022, said the ministry.

An NRI is an Indian citizen who is ordinarily residing outside India and holds an Indian passport.

Nagpur-based banker Abhay Kolarkar said he had sought the data pertaining to NRIs and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) under Right to Information (RTI) a few months ago and the ministry’s reply reached him in the last week of June. In its RTI reply, the ministry said that an estimated 10.34 million  NRIs live in 210 countries. Of these, 8.8 million  overseas Indians live in six Gulf nations.

While 3.4 million NRIs live in the United Arab Emirates, 2.5 million live in Saudi Arabia, followed by 1.2 million in Kuwait, .74 million  in Qatar, .77 million  in Oman and .32 million in Bahrain.

Kolarkar said he wanted the data to get a sense of the number of NRIs who might be affected in case of a war or a humanitarian crisis on foreign soil. As per the RTI reply, 1.28 million NRIs live in the US. The number is .35 million   for the UK, .24 million for Australia, .22 million  for Malaysia, and .17million  for Canada.

However, the Gulf nations have very few PIOs, while the US has more such persons.

A PIO is a person who or any of whose ancestors was an Indian national and who is presently holding another country’s citizenship or nationality i.e., he or she is holding a foreign passport.

At .31 million , the US has the most number of PIOs compared to other countries, said the RTI reply. It is followed by .27 million  in Malaysia, .2 million  in Myanmar, .16 million in Sri Lanka and .15 million in Canada.

(Source: PTI)