Why are so many rich Indians packing up to leave India?

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India is experiencing a flight of the wealthy, and that is not a great feeling. As the fastest growing large economy in the world, with its ease of doing business improving—strike-prone Kerala recently won the Centre’s prize for the best-in-class business reforms—India should be not just retaining its rich and talented, but also luring to its shores entrepreneurs from around the world.

Something is amiss. Indians have been snapping up spots in the sun abroad. Between July and August this year, there was a 37% increase in Indian purchases of real estate in Greece, including properties under construction.

These investments can serve as an escape route out of India. Greece has had a ‘golden visa’ programme with a relatively low bar: invest €250,000 in Greek property and you’d be eligible for permanent residency. That is not a big sum for India’s better off.

Many flats in Mumbai, Gurgaon and other big cities cost more than the ₹2.2 crore or so that sum works out to. But Greece recently raised the investment eligibility for its residency permit to €800,000, with effect from 1 September. Hence the spurt in Greek property purchases.

Many believe that the country’s wealthy migrate when they are forced to flee. Like, for example, when banks start insolvency proceedings against them and their companies. True, rich Indians have given the Sanskrit term Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, ‘the world is one family,’ a new meaning when faced with action for the recovery of unpaid dues.