500K Indian workers arrive in 16 months

Nearly 500,000 Indian workers have arrived in the Kingdom to work since the signing of an agreement between both countries in January 2014 to manage and organize the recruitment of domestic workers, according to a source at the Indian ministry.
The total number of Indian workers has now reached about three million, making them the largest group of expats in the Kingdom, the source said.
He said that the authorities in India have not received any requests from the Kingdom to amend the recruitment agreement, including the provision which stipulates that sponsors must pay a guarantee of $2,500 for each worker.
The source at the Indian ministry said that the Indian government does not encourage the export of its citizens abroad in the same way that other countries do, unless the citizens themselves desire to work abroad. He noted that the agreement with the Kingdom exists only to ensure that the rights of Indian citizens who wish to work abroad are guaranteed and maintained.
In response to reports that recruiting domestic workers from India costs between SR18,000 and SR21,000 per worker and takes between five and eight months to secure, the source said: "Recruitment offices are the ones responsible for pricing, not embassy officials, while costs are usually determined by market demand".