India’s Minister of State for External Affairs, Kirti Vardhan Singh, informed the Indian Parliament yesterday that the number of Indians residing in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries has exceeded nine million.
Indians in the GCC are employed across various sectors, including high-skilled professions like fintech, healthcare, IT, engineering, and banking, as well as blue-collar jobs such as cleaners, maids, electricians, and plumbers, the Minister stated.
The UAE remains the most favored destination for Indian job seekers, with a population of 3.55 million Indians, followed by Saudi Arabia, which hosts 2.64 million. Kuwait is home to one million Indians, with the remaining GCC countries having Indian populations in the six figures.
In the first half of 2024, India issued emigration clearance to 180,000 citizens for employment in countries requiring such clearance, nearly matching the 398,000 clearances issued in 2023. Emigration clearance is mandatory for Indians with educational qualifications below class 10 and certain professions, such as nursing.