Diplomatist Magazine Diplomatist August 2018 | Page 16

1. In July 2013, L&G signed a contract
for the construction of a section of the major
Riyadh Metro Project, amounting to $1.4
billion. The contract involves the designing,
construction and commissioning of a three-
line, 41 km-long Metro Project expected to
be completed in fi ve years.
2. In 2013, Tata Steel won a bid to
manufacture 60,000 tonnes of high-quality
rails for a high-speed rail connection between
Mecca and Medina.
3. In December 2012, Tata Motors
signed a letter of intent to set up a factory
in the Kingdom to produce 50,000 Land
Rovers a year by 2017. It has also set up
a state-of-the-art showroom and service
centre in Riyadh.
4. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has
opened a business processing unit (BPO)
in Saudi Arabia that is expected to provide
employment opportunities to 3,000 Saudi
women in the next three years. In May
2016, WIPRO Arabia Unit - a subsidiary of
Wipro Limited, Saudi Aramco and Prince
Nourah University (PNU), Riyadh, signed a
Joint Venture agreement and opened Saudi
Arabia’s fi rst Women Business Park. The
project is expected to create 21,000 jobs for
women by 2025.
Riyal, Rupee & Remittances: A Special
Bond with Home
Saudi Arabia continues to be among the
most preferred destinations for Indians seeking
jobs abroad, resulting in the Gulf kingdom
becoming one of the highest sources of
remittances to India, according to offi cial data.
According to fi gures provided by the
Embassy of India in Riyadh, the number
of expatriate Indians in Saudi Arabia
shot up from 3,039,193 in March 2017 to
3,253,901 in October 2017, a rise of over
200,000 within seven months. They not
only comprise blue-collar workers but a
growing number of doctors, engineers,
oil technologists, IT experts and other
technocrats who are increasingly seeking
opportunities in the Kingdom’s reforming
economy and growing liberal atmosphere
for expatriates.
According to Pew Research Centre data,
India continues to be the top recipient of
The dramatic rise
in the number of
expatriate Indians
in Saudi Arabia
vindicated the World
Bank’s predictions that
remittances among
countries will rise in
2018 to touch $615
billion.
16 • Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 6 • Issue 8 • August 2018, Noida
migrant remittances with nearly $69 billion
coming in 2015 alone.
Of the nearly $69 billion in remittances
that came into India, Saudi Arabia accounted
for over $10.5 billion - about a sixth of the
total remittances.
However, in 2016, remittances to India
went down by over $6 billion compared to
2015, brought about by falling oil prices and
slow economic growth in the Gulf. But after
falling to a low of $25 a barrel last year, oil
prices have now gone over $60 a barrel,
indicating that the Gulf will remain a primary
source of remittances for India with oil-rich
Saudi Arabia among the leaders.
The dramatic rise in the number of
expatriate Indians in Saudi Arabia vindicated
the World Bank’s predictions that remittances
among countries will rise in 2018 to touch
$615 billion. Of this, $460 billion will be
received by developing countries, a rise
of over $30 billion compared to 2016.
According to World Bank estimates, $575
billion in remittances were sent globally in
2016. Of this, $429 billion was received by
developing countries such as India.