GOLDEN PASSPORTS
Why Indian's are acquiring passports?
What are Golden passports?
GOLDEN PASSPORTS:
Immediate context: Around 10% of all golden passport holders are Indians
What are Golden passports?
Golden passport refers to the process of offering citizenship by some countries to foreigners in return for making a significant investment or by buying a house in that country.
What are benefits attached to acquiring Golden passports?
Passports of these countries provide the following benefits:
- Duty free access to a large number of countries. E.g. An Indian passport gives a person visa-free access to only 60 countries. It's the same as Tajikistan, But becoming a citizen of, say, Saint Kitts and Nevis or some other Caribbean country, will give them visa-free access to 157 countries including the European Union and the United Kingdom.
- Low taxation & tax exemptions. - "These countries do not impose tax on worldwide income, these nations do not levy taxes on capital gains, gift, wealth, or inheritance, signifying a favourable fiscal environment for high net-worth individuals. Additionally, there are no taxes applicable to non-residents.
- Makes running business easier because of easy access to profitable markets. - For people with a specific interest in conducting business in China, which has a not a so good relationship in india, passports of Dominica and Grenada become particularly appealing, offering instant visa-free entry to this pivotal market. Swiss and Portuguese passports are good choices for those looking to do business in the Middle East and Europe. Whereas a Canadian passport opens the the North American market because of being a member of NAFTA(North American free trade area), followed by Australia.
Why india cannot provide same benefits to Indians as is provided by Golden passports?
India because of being a big country has a questionable record on internal security, human rights, independence of judiciary, condition of jails, taxation problems, etc has a very low rank on ease of doing business index(world bank). Above factors have hindered Indian from inking trade deals with big economic blocs, thereby slow & reduced access to Indian citizen to enter lucrative markets.
Above factor explains the low total merchandise exports from india. E.g. Malyasia with a population of 3.5 crores exports to the tune of US$ 350billion, whereas India with a population 45 times more, exports goods worth US$ 350billion exports.