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The remittances from overseas workers and professionals are soaring. Back in 1990, a bare $2.1 billion flowed in from overseas Indians, but by 2005 the figure had risen to $24 billion. In fact, India is now on top of the remittances heap; it accounts for a quarter of all remittances worldwide. According to the World Bank's Global Economic Prospects of 2006, transfers to South Asia outstrip traditional exports as forex earners. The Indian diaspora is estimated at 20 million and offers huge potential as a catalyst for India's economic growth and ongoing global economic integration. Overseas Indians have contributed a meaningful share of financial and -- in recent years -- into India. Indeed, the much publicised IT success stories in India accelerated with the identification and capitalisation of local talent by some farsighted overseas Indians who were not put off by the country's chronic deficiencies of poor physical infrastructure and bureaucratic maze. Softer US immigration law in the 1960s and the search for better economic opportunities fuelled a surge in the overseas migration of Indians in the twentieth century. Unlike previous phases of overseas migration of Indians, the late twentieth century emigration sent better-educated Indians to industrialised countries, especially the US, Canada, and the UK. India is the world's largest recipient of remittances by overseas workers. NRIs send home a whopping $21 billion of remittances, up by almost 150 per cent since 1995, says a study by investment bankers J P Morgan. Separately, the stock of deposits by non resident Indians (NRIs) amounts to around $32 billion, or 23 per cent of foreign exchange reserves. Portfolio and real estate investment by NRIs has surged in recent years, but direct investment has been largely concentrated in the IT space. Capital inflows from overseas Indians have strengthened India's balance of payments, and India's recent global economic rise has prompted a "reverse brain drain," boosting the competitiveness of India's corporate sector. There have been significant favourable changes in the attitudes of the diaspora and the Indian government toward each other. The diaspora and the government now view each other more positively, and are working to enhance their relationship. India's economic reforms and the global focus on the multitude of economic opportunities in the country have prompted overseas Indians to become more active in investing in India. At the same time, Indian government has started appreciating the importance of the diaspora as a valuable resource, capable of playing a constructive role in enhancing India's global economic and political aspirations. The diaspora can act as a powerful catalyst in helping India realise - perhaps even exceed -- its aspiration toward 10 per cent annual GDP growth. However, the onus for better capitalising on the diaspora's talents and resources rests squarely with slow-moving Indian governments. Most Indian migrants are unskilled workers employed for several years in construction, transport and as domestic helpers in the Gulf oil exporters as well as in southeast Asian nations such as Malaysia, but there is also a significant flow of more skilled migrants who tend to stay in the English-speaking immigration countries such as Australia, UK and the US permanently. Information technology (IT) has been the driving force for exporting skilled Indian workers, and there is an oft-told story of how multinationals "discovered" the skills of Indian IT workers, transferred them to foreign locations, and set in motion Indian IT migration flows to many countries. The Indian IT industry has been able to move up the "value chain," shifting from sending only workers abroad to selling custom software and sending IT migrants to maintain it. Health care workers also emigrate. It is estimated that 10 to 15 percent of all those trained as doctors in India have emigrated, and the percentage of those trained as specialists who emigrate is higher despite restrictions that include having to pass tests in the country of destination in order to practice medicine. Unlike many other developing countries, India does not require health care workers educated at government expense to serve several years in India. Most Indian analysts say that, if there were fewer migration barriers, more Indians would emigrate temporarily or permanently.
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