Close to 7.5 lakh Indians have renounced their citizenship since 2016, while 6,000 foreigners were granted Indian citizenship during the same period, government data analysed by CNN-News18 shows.
The data from the Ministry of External Affairs presented in Rajya Sabha says individuals relinquished Indian citizenship for reasons personal to them and have moved to at least 106 countries.
Between 2016 and 2021, a total of 7,49,765 Indians renounced their Indian citizenship, most in 2019 (1.44 lakh), followed by 2016 (1.41 lakh). The year 2020 saw a massive drop in the numbers.
Further digging into the ministry numbers presented in Parliament showed that 6.08 lakh Indians have relinquished their citizenship for foreign nationality since 2017. The major chunk of Indians who left the country since 2017 went to the US, Canada, Australia and England. These four countries were accountable for 82% of the numbers since 2017.
In the year 2019 – when the highest number of Indians renounced their citizenship – these four countries were the choice of relocation for 85% of those who left India, the data analysed by CNN-News18 shows.
Since 2017, at least 2.56 lakh Indians have given up their citizenship for the US while more than 91,000 moved to Canada.
At least 31 Indians – seven in 2020 and 24 in 2021 – renounced Indian citizenship for Pakistan, the ministry data shows. In addition, 2,174 Indians left their citizenship and moved to China between 2017 and 2021. Further, 94 Indians have moved to Sri Lanka during the said period.
Among others who left to the neighbouring countries were seven to Myanmar and 20 to Bangladesh. Nepal has offered citizenship to 134 Indians.
On the other hand, a total of 5,891 foreigners were granted Indian citizenship between 2016 and 2021, the Union Home Ministry data shows.
The ministry informed the Lok Sabha during the Budget session that at least 8,244 citizenship applications were received from Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Christian minority groups from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan between 2018 and 2021.
A total of 3,117 Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Christian minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan have been granted Indian citizenship since 2018.
Further, as of December 2021, 10,635 Indian citizenship applications were pending, including 7,306 from Pakistan, and 1,152 from Afghanistan, the data shows.
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