Indians are the oldest and largest expatriate population in Qatar. More than 700,000 Indians live in Qatar currently and contribute heavily to the development of Qatar. From small shops to any construction project in Qatar, you will find many Indians working in it. Not only in retail and Construction, Indians are highly employed in healthcare, tourism, airlines, banking, IT and many other Industries as well. Our remittances do a good contribution to the economy of many states in India. Majority of Indians living in Qatar are from the Southern state- Kerala. It is because of the historical connect between Kerala and the Persian Gulf region. Being a Malayali myself, gives me an advantage to get connected with fellow Malayalis here. Apart from Malayalees, people from most of the Indian states, from Kashmir to Tamil Nadu and from Gujarat to Assam live in Qatar. I was born & brought up in Andaman Islands. I am glad to tell you that, although very few, people from Andaman also live in Qatar.
Many of us know about Indians living in India. But many doesn’t know that Qatar and India are also major trading partner. India’s export to Qatar during 2020-21 was US$ 1.28 billion. India exports majorly food products, electrical, plastic products, construction material, textiles & garments, chemicals, precious stones and rubber to Qatar. Infact India is among the top three sources of Qatar’s imports, along with China and Japan. Also, Qatar is the largest supplier of LNG to India, accounting for over 50% of India's global LNG imports. In the year 2020-21, Indian import from Qatar was US$ 7.93 billion, majorly petroleum products.
Many Indian companies like Larsen & Toubro, Voltas Ltd, Shapoorjee Palloonji, Navayuga, Aptech, NIIT, Tech Mahindra, Wipro have branches in Qatar. Qatar’s investment arm- Qatar investment Authority has done major investment in Indian companies like Bharti Airtel, Byjus, Adani Transmission, Verse Innovation and Swiggys.
This year is a special year for both India and Qatar. While India will be celebrating its Platinum Jubilee of Independence this year, Qatar will be hosting the largest ever sporting event in the history of Qatar “FIFA World Cup- 2022”. Today when India is celebrating its republic Day, the oldest hotel in Qatar “Sheraton Doha” and the iconic “Khalifa Stadium”, which will host the FIFA 2022, was lit with Indian Tricolor. Glad to see such good gestures.
Thank you Qatar. Jai hind
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