Wealthy Indians leaving country to have better future in the Caribbean

UHNWI individuals are the ultra-rich people who make money out of their large scale businesses. As per the Wealth Report 2021, there are currently 5,21,653 UHNWIs globally.

Wednesday, 14th April 2021

Wealthy Indians leaving country to have better future in Caribbean

India, a country of 1.3 billion people, is known for its massive population, cheap labour, diversification and most importantly, an enormous number of youngsters. Although the country has so much to offer, it is missing out on several things making Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (UHNWI) and High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) permanently move outside the country and escalate their businesses to reach new heights. According to the United Nations, India had the highest diaspora(17.5 million) accompanied by Mexico and China in 2019. Also read: St Kitts and Nevis extends exclusive offer on Citizenship by Investment Program under fund option Why are Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (UHNWIs) leaving India? UHNWI individuals are the ultra-rich people who make money out of their large scale businesses. As per the Wealth Report 2021, there are currently 5,21,653 UHNWIs globally, of which India has 6,884 such people. But, operating and doing business in India has become difficult with day, government's stringent policies and biased opinions for few corporate families. As per the World Bank's "Ease of doing business rankings 2020," India stands 63rd. However, in 2015, the Government of India endeavoured at meeting the 50 top economies on the 'Ease of Doing Business ranking by 2020. Also read: Indians can explore 75% of the world without visa with Dominica’s Citizenship by Investment Programme UHNWI are opting for Citizenship by Investment Programmes to change their citizenship. Prime Minister Modi led government tried to focus on all the fields measured by the World Bank, focusing on meeting taxes, selling across borders, and determining poverty, making a substantial leap upward. Besides this, several other factors play a vital role in these UHNWI's leaving India for their greater good.

Lack of government support: Most of the businesses in India lack government support; even though the government endeavours to create new policies to promote new businesses, massive corruption leads to regular failures in implementation.
Political disability: India often experiences conflicts, insecurity, violence caused by poor governance, corruption & human right abuses, which makes establishing businesses difficult for safety and security or political freedom.
Socio-Cultural Reasons: Even though India is a diverse country, there is still discrimination based on ethnicity or religion, making the UHNWI move to other countries to attain more freedom from discrimination.
Environmental Reasons: Infrastructures lack safety and security because of massive corruption in sectors the administration fails to create safer societies and better infrastructures.
Tax Fright: To meeting their monthly targets, Indian revenue officials often misbehave with business owners forcing them to displace to countries with much better tax reforms.

Golden visa programmes: These are generally Citizenship by Investment Programmes. According to Henley & Partners, a global citizenship and residence advisory firm, HNWI of India excelled the list of people flying out of their countries for residence or citizenship elsewhere in 2020. As per Henley & Partners, the number of enquiries increased by 62.9% in 2020. The advisory firm said that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the wealthy Indians planned out to leave their home country. Citizenship Preferences of UHNWI's Two Caribbean countries offering Citizenship by Investment Programmes are said to be the favourites of these rich Indians; the countries include St Kitts and Nevis and Commonwealth of Dominica. St Kitts and Nevis: It is the smallest country in the western hemisphere; the Citizenship by Investment Programme was first launched by St Kitts and Nevis in 1984. It is the world's oldest Citizenship by Investment Programme that offers the flexibility to travel to 160 countries with visa-free and visa on arrival access. It can be passed on to future generations. St Kitts and Nevis also do not have any personal income tax, which makes it the number one choice for these business individuals. Also read: St Kitts and Nevis ranks world’s best fastest Citizenship by Investment Programme by CBI Index Not only that, the Citizenship by Investment Programme of St Kitts and Nevis has been crowned as the fastest in the world that offers Accelerated Application Process (AAP), where applications are processed 60 days after due-diligence checks. Citizenship for a single applicant starts from USD 150,000, while a family of four can obtain it for USD 195,000. However, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Citizenship by Investment Unit of St Kitts and Nevis reduced the prices for a family of four to USD 150,000 under the Sustainable Growth Fund option. Commonwealth of Dominica: It is known as the "nature island of the Caribbean," as it has 365 rivers, the worlds second-largest boiling lake, freshwater lack and beautiful black sand beaches. Dominica is politically and economically stable with only a 70,000 population; the Citizenship by Investment Programme of Dominica gives global mobility to 140 countries. Starting from USD 100,000 for a single applicant, Dominica is the second choice of the UNHWI's from India.