India expects higher NRI remittances

The Centre expects foreign remittances to go up to Rs 96,000 crore (Rs 960 billion) at the end of this year from Non-Resident Indians against Rs 88,000 crore (Rs 880 billion) last year.

"With more and more Indians going abroad, foreign remittances are expected to reach Rs 96,000 crore this year. The major chunk of this will be coming from mainly three countries including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait," R K Singh, protector general of emigrants, said.

Singh said other countries contribute maximum towards foreign remittances in India include Oman, Malaysia and Thailand.

"The government is trying to send more number of Indians to overseas ensuring safety and protection. We are planning to open facilitation counters in centres such as Chennai, Mumbai and New Delhi," Singh said.

Though the government had earlier cancelled visit visas on short-term employment, it is examining visa grant for shut-down employment of less than 3-6 months after securing clear-cut job descriptions and other necessary documents, he said.

About the restriction of deployment of workers to Iraq, Singh said it would not allow Indian workers to visit that country either on visit visas or on employment for now.

"We have cancelled over 5,000 applications for heavy vehicles drivers to Iraq. Even we have initiated measures to check flow of Indian workers through other Gulf countries," he said.

Singh said the ministry is also consider to extend emigration clearance not required (ECNR) to more countries including China and Hong Kong. It will also launch one-day pre-departure orientation course for unskilled labourers going abroad soon.

The ministry would also double the bank guarantee for recruitment agencies. The bank guarantee for recruitment agencies handling workers up to 1,000 would be Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million) against current Rs 5 lakh (Rs 500,000), while for agencies recruiting more than 1,000 it would be Rs 20 lakh (Rs 2 million) from the existing Rs 10 lakh.