NEW DELHI: Nearly 9 million Indian expats stay and work in Gulf Cooperation Council nations, new information reveals, making the area their high vacation spot and the India-Gulf migration hall one of many busiest on this planet.

The migration of Indian staff to the Gulf was already important throughout British colonial rule and elevated enormously after the oil increase of the Nineteen Seventies. The variety of newcomers continued to develop over the a long time as Gulf nations invited foreigners to affix their workforce.

Recent estimates by the Ministry of External Affairs present that the quantity is 8.8 million, or over 66 p.c of non-resident Indians — residents holding an Indian passport however residing exterior the nation.

The figures have been made public and made the rounds in native media after a request by a Nagpur-based citizen who sought the information below the Right to Information Act 2005, which mandates authorities response to citizen queries.

In the RTI reply, the ministry mentioned that an estimated 10.34 million NRIs stay in 210 nations, together with 3.41 million within the UAE, 2.59 million in Saudi Arabia, 1.02 million in Kuwait, 740,000 in Qatar, 700,000 in Oman and 320,000 in Bahrain. Outside the Gulf area, the largest focus of NRIs was within the US with 1.28 million, and within the UK with 350,000.

“Indians have been attracted to the employment opportunities in the Gulf market, initially due to the booming oil industry, and of late because of the economic diversification wherein skilled workers and professionals from across India find employment in different sectors including IT, health and medical care, engineering, real estate and construction, retail etc.,” mentioned Muddassir Quamar, Middle East skilled and affiliate professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

“The growing economic relations between India and Gulf countries have also been a factor in making the India-Gulf migration corridor one of the world’s busiest.”

The major elements attracting Indian expats have been remuneration and geographical proximity, making the Middle East a handy vacation spot for them — an element that’s unlikely to vary anytime quickly regardless of the continued market modifications within the Gulf on account of financial diversification and nationalization of jobs.

“Discipline, dedication and professional skill are major reasons Gulf employers prefer Indian workers,” Quamar mentioned.

“The demand for such workers in the Gulf market will remain a constant, and so will the continued flow of Indians to Gulf countries.”

For Prof. Sujata Ashwarya of the Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, historic labor relations between the South Asian nation and the Middle East have proven that Indians are most well-liked for his or her professionalism.

“And Indians work there because the jobs pay well relative to their home country. These elements have not changed over time. Therefore, there is a complementarity of interest, and this equation has been successful,” she mentioned.

What might change within the labor migration dynamic is the distribution of Indian expats throughout GCC nations and the extent of their expertise, with extra alternatives for professionals rising particularly in Saudi Arabia, which presently is second, after the UAE, when it comes to the variety of Indians it employs.

“Saudi Arabia is far richer than in the past. They are building two cities and that means opportunities for India’s top talent. The quality of workers from India will change dramatically now,” mentioned Sanjay Kapoor, analyst and chief editor of the political journal Hard News.

“The Gulf region means a lot to aspiring Indians. It provides good-quality living conditions, salaries higher than what they get at home and respect for plurality. All the downsides of Indian society are absent in the Gulf.”