SRINAGAR: Nearly one crore Indians — 99,35,024 in total — are living and working across the Gulf countries, the Government of India has said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. The figure, based on estimates from Indian Missions in the Gulf, highlights the region’s position as the single-largest overseas destination for Indian workers.
According to the data, 4,326,248 Indians reside in the UAE, followed by 2,747,551 in Saudi Arabia, 1,036,389 in Kuwait, 830,491 in Qatar, 676,781 in Oman, and 317,564 in Bahrain. Together, these six countries host a diverse Indian diaspora ranging from unskilled labourers to professionals and their family members.
The Ministry of External Affairs said India has about 15 million nationals abroad, a substantial number of whom are employed across the GCC. However, the government does not maintain state-wise or year-wise breakup of migration into each Gulf country.
On registration procedures, the government said that all emigrants holding Emigration Check Required passports — including those from Telangana — must register through the e-Migrate portal before travelling to any of the 19 notified ECR countries. The system integrates foreign employers, recruiting agents and workers, offering a secure and transparent recruitment process.
On the question of social protection, the Government reported that 83,88,143 Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana insurance policies have been issued since 2006-07. State-wise data available through the e-Migrate system shows Uttar Pradesh with the highest number of policies at 14,15,861, followed by West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Telangana. Jammu and Kashmir has recorded 42,445 policies, while Ladakh has only eight.
The government also noted that a total of 1,38,213 grievances were received from Indian workers in Gulf countries over the last three years. Complaints covering wage exploitation, passport confiscation, poor working conditions and lack of consular support were handled by Indian Embassies and Consulates through walk-ins, emergency helplines, WhatsApp channels, email support, and grievance portals such as MADAD and e-Migrate. Indian Missions also conduct workplace visits, take up cases with employers and labour authorities, and hold regular open houses and consular camps in remote labour accommodations.
To further safeguard vulnerable migrants, the government said that only state-run recruiting agencies are authorised to deploy women holding ECR-category passports to Gulf countries, with a minimum age requirement of 30 years to prevent exploitation.
The Indian Community Welfare Fund continues to support distressed nationals with emergency medical care, temporary shelter, legal aid, air passage, assistance in repatriation of mortal remains, and help in paying small fines.
The reply noted that the Indian diaspora remains the largest in the world, and India continues to be the top recipient of global remittances, according to World Bank data for 2024. -(KL)
