Independence Day 2024: Why India’s diaspora is its big gift to the developed world

India is gearing up to celebrate its 78th Independence Day.

India is home to 1.4 billion people – over half of whom are under the age of 25 and 65 per cent are below the age of 35, according to the 2022 World Population Prospects.

While the population at home is powering India to new heights, it is the Indian diaspora that is the country’s gift to the developed world.

Let’s take a closer look at how:

First, let’s take a brief look at the diaspora.

There are 15.85 million non-resident Indians and nearly 19.57 million people of Indian-origin around the world.

As per The Economist, the Indian diaspora worldwide is the biggest in the world since 2010.

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Mexican immigrants, with 11.2 million people abroad come in second, and Chinese immigrants who number around 10.5 million people come in third.

India has over 2.4 million immigrants in the US, over 835,000 in the UK, 720,000 in Canada, and 579,000 in Australia.

United States

According to Statista Research Department, the US is home to 2.4 million Indians immigrants and another 3.3 million people of Indian-origin in 2024.

Indians and those of Indian-origin have made massive contributions to the United States when it comes to the economy, culture, science, technology, and politics.

Two dozen Indian-origin executives are at the helm in Fortune 500 companies – a number which has more than doubled from a decade ago.

The list includes Sundar Pichai at Google, Nikesh Arora at Palo Alto Networks, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen.

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According to Yahoo Finance, these Fortune 500 companies employ 2.7 million Americans.

They are also vital to the US economy – generating around $1 trillion in revenue.

Of the nearly 650 unicorn firms in the US, Indian-Americans have co-founded 72.

These companies have a net value of $195 billion. They employ over 55,000 people.

Indian-Americans own 60 per cent of all the hotels in the US, as per Yahoo Finance.

As per The Times of India, these generate around $700 billion in revenue and employ 40 lakh people.

Indian-Americans also own 35 to 40 per cent of convenience stores – which generate $350 billion to $500 billion in revenue.

Indiaspora founder MR Rangaswami told the newspaper_,_ “The Indian American-driven innovation flows to the country’s bottom and is laying the groundwork for the next phase of economic growth.”

Indian immigrants are wealthier than their counterparts.

As per The Economist, Indians, with a median household income of almost $150,000 per year, remain the highest-earning migrant group in the US.

The average US household has a median income of just $75,000.

Chinese immigrants, meanwhile, have a median household income of over $95,000.

Indian-Americans pay around 5 to 6 per cent of the country’s income tax – which amounts to around $250 billion to $300 billion in revenue.

Indian-Americans are contributing to academia.

In 1975, Indian-Americans got around two per cent of all patents. In 2019, that figure is in double digits at 10 per cent.

As per The Times of India, scientists of Indian-origin were awarded 11 per cent of all National Institutes of Health grants in 2023.

They also contributed to 13 per cent of scientific publications.

There are 22,000 Indian-origin faculty at US colleges and universities.

These include Dr Neeli Bendapudi at Penn State and Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability Dean Arun Majumdar.

Indian immigrants are also better educated than their counterparts.

Around 80 per cent of the Indian immigrants people above the schooling age have at least a bachelor’s degree.

That is way above the Chinese immigrants at 50 per cent and towers over the rest of the population which is at 30 per cent.

The Times of India quoted Washington-based Migration Policy Institute (MPI) as saying that 49 per cent of Indian immigrants have a graduate or professional degree.

Again, that’s far above the other immigrants at 15 per cent and the native-born at 13 per cent.

Indians also comprise the second highest number of students enrolled in US institutes of higher learning.

Most employer-sponsored H1-B visas for high-skilled workers are given to Indians.

“In 2021, Indian immigrants tended to be younger than the overall foreign-born population but older than the US born. Their median age was 41 years old, compared to 47 for all immigrants and 37 for the native-born population. This is largely due to the high number of working-age adults: 80% of all Indian immigrants were aged 18 to 64, versus 77% of the overall foreign-born population and 59% of the native born,” the study stated.

One in 10 physicians in the US is now Indian-American, as per the newspaper.

As per The Economist, the US’ fastest-growing language is now Telugu.

People of Indian origin are also making huge waves in politics.

Vice-President Kamala Harris, for example, who has an Indian mother, could be the next President of the United States.

Five Indian-Americans, Ro Khanna, Pramilla Jayapal, Shri Thanedar, Ami Bera and Raja Krishnamoorthi, collectively known as the ‘Samosa Caucus’ are also serving in Congress.

Nikki Haley, also of Indian-origin, made history with her run for president.

India is also viewed far more favourably by the US public compared to other countries – particularly the China.

A recent Gallup survey quoted 84 per cent of respondents as saying they held a negative view of China.

Just 27 per cent said the same about India.

UK and the rest of the world

The Indian diaspora has also made a huge impact in the UK.

The Times of India quoted a 2021 census data of the UK as showing that, of all ethnic groups, Indians are the most well-educated and have among the highest representation of working professionals.

Those of Indian ethnicity also have the highest home ownership in England and Wales.

The survey showed 71 percent of the Indian ethnicity own their own homes.

Meanwhile, Indians and Chinese comprise 34 percent of professionals including doctors, teachers and lawyers in the UK.

There are at least 19 people of Indian-origin in The House of Commons including Rishi Sunak now the former prime minister.

A growing number of Indians are also moving to Europe particularly Germany where highly-skilled workers are needed in high-paying fields.

As per BBC, Indians immigrants are now the top earners in Germany.

“Both in terms of the global economy and their own purchasing power, the impact is substantial,” VN Balasubramanyam, an economics professor at Lancaster University, UK, told BBC.

They are also changing local economic patterns by buying property – unusual in a country where most people prefer to rent.

Indians are also trading on Germany’s stock market trading, investing in mutual funds and in Bitcoin.

What do experts say?

Experts see a bright future for Indian diaspora.

V N Balasubramanyam told BBC, “The economic power of the Indian diaspora will continue to increase and be substantial, and what will be interesting is how the diaspora invests back home and develops joint ventures, which I also think will be significant.

“It does depend on India’s economic policy going forward, but for now, it’s fairly liberal and will inspire much more.”

Joseph Nye, a Harvard professor who invented the term “soft power” told The Economist that the mere presence of a diaspora does not equate to an increase in soft power. “But if you have people in the diaspora who are successful and create a positive image of the country from which they came, that helps their native country.”

With inputs from agencies