Why Are They Giving Up Indian Citizenship?

During the past five years, more than 50,000 persons gave up their Indian citizenship to become citizens of some other country.  In 2017, the number of Indians who discarded their Indian citizenship was 1,33,049. As per the information provided by the Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan in the Lok Sabha, this number has increased to 1,83,741 until October 31, 2022. During the same period 792 foreign nationals became Indian citizens.

The question is why some Indians are renouncing their Indian citizenship, that too at a time when India’s status in the international arena is on the rise.

Except for some exceptions, most people renouncing Indian citizenship are highly educated, rich, and privileged. They are not opting for it because of some economic or social crisis in India. According to a report by the London-based global citizenship and residence advisory Henley & Partners (H&P), around 8,000 rich High Networth Individuals (HNI) or the rich and educated may forego Indian passports this year.

The most obvious reason is that these rich and educated feel that the grass is greener on the other side. Better career options, lifestyle, and the lure of economic gains are major reasons behind it. The wealthy in India always say the quality of life is better in the West, where pollution is less menacing.

Some of the rich prefer to take citizenship of countries like the UAE and Singapore, where tax rates are lower than in India. Many have opted for this to evade taxes in India. They let their family members become citizens of some other country where the tax rate is low. This allows them to operate foreign accounts and businesses to stash money through their NRI family members.

There is a class of neo-rich in India who are unable to accept real life in India. This class goes abroad to spend holidays. They send their children to study abroad. There are the Indians who dream of leaving the country and are migrating at the first opportunity.