New Delhi: Indian Americans, despite comprising only 1.5 per cent of the US population, have made significant contributions to the US economy and wield strong socio-cultural influence, according to a new report.
Research by San Francisco-based non-profit Indiaspora and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) reveals that the small Indian-American community, which is 5.1 million strong, pays 5-6 percent of all income taxes in the US. This is approximately to the tune of $250-300 billion.
“Their professions also indirectly create 11-12 million American jobs, showcasing their broader economic influence,” adds the report.
During the release of the report Tuesday in New Delhi, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar noted the exponential rise of Indians in the US over the years.
“When Prime Minister (Jawaharlal) Nehru first went to America, there were 3,000 Indians (there). When (Prime Minister) Indira Gandhi went, it was 30,000, and when (Prime Minister) Rajiv Gandhi went, it went up to 3,00,000. When Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi went, the number was 3.3 million,” he told the audience.
Last June, Modi visited the US in his first “official state visit” to the country.
Jobs in the medical and tech fields are some of the popular career choices among Indian Americans. They provide important skills to the American workforce at a time when the “scarcity of skilled talent in those fields is very pronounced”, the report says.
That said, the community faces its own set of challenges. “Around 6 percent of Indian Americans are below the poverty line as of 2020, and an estimated 14 percent were undocumented in 2021,” the report adds.
The report’s steering committee consists of former US ambassador to India Ken Juster, former CEO of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi and other top voices.
The authors of the report include Indiaspora founder M.R. Rangaswami and North America regional cochair for BCG X Sesh Iyer.
It is also worth noting that five Indian Americans serve in the US Congress, and Vice President Kamala Harris, presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, is also of Indian origin.
Indian-origin Americans also hold top positions at global financial institutions, such as the World Bank (president Ajay Banga) and the International Monetary Fund (deputy managing director Gita Gopinath).
Also Read: California’s Trojan Horse Caste Bill damages reputations of Indian Americans on unfounded grounds
Economic contributions
According to the Indiaspora report, CEOs of Indian origin head 16 Fortune 500 companies, including Microsoft (Satya Nadella) and Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Reshma Kewalramani).
Between 1975 and 2019, the share of American patents with co-inventors of Indian origin grew by five times.
In 2023, research groups with scientists of Indian origin claimed about 11 per cent of all grants provided by the National Institutes of Health, which is the primary government agency in the US responsible for biomedical and public health research.
The report also adds that Indian Americans contributed to 13 percent of scientific publications.
Indian American professor Navin Varadarajan from the University of Houston and Subra Suresh, former director of the US National Science Foundation, have been cited as leaders in the space of medical patents and healthcare.
Indian Americans are also increasingly playing a critical role in the start-up sector in the US, especially in the tech industry.
Indian Americans co-founded 72 of 648 American unicorns operating in 2024, according to the Indiaspora report. These include companies like Cambridge Mobile Telematics and Solugen.
“The entrepreneurial spirit extends to small businesses across the country. Indian Americans own about 60 per cent of all US hotels, a testament to their profound impact on the hospitality industry,” the report adds.
Socio-cultural influence
Out of the 5 million Indian Americans residing in the US, 2.8 million are first-generation immigrants (including students) and 2.3 million claim Indian ancestry. Around 70 per cent of the community are American citizens.
Apart from their economic contributions, Indian Americans are increasingly wielding socio-cultural influence in the US. Indian festivals like Diwali and Holi are widely celebrated and Diwali is an official holiday in Pennsylvania and New York city.
Indian students comprise 25 percent of international students in the US and 1.5 percent of the total student population, with approximately 60 percent enrolled in graduate studies.
“India is a net exporter of talent, and the US, as a land of opportunity, attracts the best from India’s large, young, English-speaking, and skilled talent pool,” the report says.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also Read: Those of Indian descent are part of the American dream. Attacks on them must be taken seriously