They use this purchasing power with gusto. Real estate investments make up a large portion, according to figures from New Delhi-based luxury real estate firm DLF Ltd. NRIs bought 20% of all homes sold by DLF between April and September 2023, compared to 15% in the previous financial year. The model is global, and the demand for real estate is also extensive in Great Britain, Singapore and the Persian Gulf region.
Strategic savings and investment choices also affect how this diaspora preserves and grows capital, which Sharma identifies with. “The upbringing that a lot of people get in India is that when you finish your education and get a job, you have to start thinking about where you’re going to put your money. So the next obvious step is a savings plan,” he says.
In fact, around 25% of international mutual fund investors prefer low-risk investment options in India, while 18% of national investors based in Canada prioritize retirement planning in their long-term investment strategies for their portfolios in India, followed by 16% in the UK and 12% in Singapore. “They certainly use their money wisely, they also invest like some do, for example, as private entrepreneurs in the United States,” Balasubramanyam admits.
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Amid a digitized, globalized and free market landscape, analysts say the economic story of the Indian diaspora will continue to reverberate globally, politics and visa policies permitting.
“The economic power of the Indian diaspora continues to grow and is significant, and what’s interesting is how the diaspora is investing at home and developing joint ventures, which I think is also significant,” says Balasubramanyam. “It depends on India’s future economic policy, but for now it is quite liberal and inspires a lot more.”
“These new migrants can move between different countries with open market policies. So if they are in Germany today, they can be in the US or Canada tomorrow because all these countries also offer them comparable citizenship frameworks,” adds Dutta. “They are young people in their 30s who still have decades of working life ahead of them, they are very ambitious and aspirational and big companies want to hire them because their contribution and what they produce has a global consumer market. Skilled high earners will continue to make big contributions economically. “
Editor’s note: Shubhangi Sharma and author Gouri Sharma are not related
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