Since 2015, India has been recording an average on 7.5% in GDP growth. It is turning into a global destination for manufacturing and has seen a constant increase in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) with each year. Though all this looks lucrative, India is facing a pressing issue - 'Brain Drain'. As India is preparing itself to become the next powerhouse, more of its citizens are looking to migrate to other countries in search for a better paying job and good work life balance. India's per capita income has seen an increase of around 520% sitting at US $7066 from $1200. This enables the citizens to move to different country providing them means to travel abroad in search of jobs which they think are better for them and are not able to find in India.
This choropleth map in the right gives an estimate regarding the state wise emigration clearance.
It is quite evident that Uttar Pradesh has the most numbers of emigrants with 115,192 emigrants.
Southern States like Tamil Nadu and Kerala have traditionally been the source for many migrant workers to middle eastern places like Qatar.
Only after 2007, Uttar Pradesh and other Northern States have overtaken their southern counterparts. The main reason for these out flux of emigrants is one certain passport called ECR.
Emigration Check Required (ECR) Passports, a certain type of passport given to unskilled labor who are looking to migrate for work. Issued by Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, people who take this passport traditionally end up working in middle eastern and southeast Asian countries.
The time series graph discusses how major Indian states fair in emigration through the years. The data comprises of all the emigration clearances from these select states since they have been the major source for emigrations.
After the year 2007 it is evident Uttar Pradesh has been a clear winner in the case of number of people who emigrate for work.
Historically we have seen big waves of labor, skilled and unskilled, who have migrated to different countries like Qatar and Oman. But one country which has always been a hot spot for Indian Immigration is Qatar.
Indians living in Qatar has increases by around 80000% over the last two decades. This means one thing, as oil prices rise and middle eastern countries embark on a rapid expansion in their economies, Indians tend to migrate there for job opportunities. In the case of Oman and UAE, these countries have also seen a huge increase in Indian Population for similar reasons.
But in recent times, due to decrease in crude oil prices and cost cuts in construction projects, number of Indians traveling to these parts has seen a significant hit.
Europe hasn't been the most receptive for Indian population. But one particular country, Italy, begs to differ. The graph below which shows % increase of Indian population from 1990-2017 speaks that in the European region, Italy opened its border for many Indians. The country offers seasonal work visas, augmenting itself as a solid choice. Apart from Italy, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden has also cemented itself as a favorable location due to its cheap and better education and better work opportunities after graduation.
India has made some internal changes when it comes to handing these ECR passports and lately the migration rate has not been overwhelming. With this being said, the below graph explains how the migration rate looks like since 1950.