Over 87,000 Indians have renounced their citizenship between January and June, the government told the Lok Sabha on Friday.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar gave the figures in response to a question by Congress MP Karti Chidambaram.

In his reply, Jaishankar said that 2.25 lakh Indians renounced their citizenship in 2022, 1.63 lakh in 2021 and 85,256 in 2020.

This number stood at 1.44 lakh in 2019, 1.34 lakh in 2018, 1.33 lakh in 2017, 1.41 lakh in 2016, 1.31 lakh in 2015, 1.29 lakh in 2014.

This means that since 2014, over 13.75 lakh Indians have given up their citizenship.

Indians are not allowed to hold dual citizenship as per law. According to the Passport Act, if Indians acquire citizenship in a foreign country, they have to surrender their Indian passports to the consular offices.

On Friday, Jaishankar said that number of Indian nationals exploring the global workplace has been significant in the last two decades and that many of them have chosen to take up foreign citizenship for their own personal convenience.

He also added that the Indian community abroad is an asset to the nation,

“The government has brought about a transformational change in its engagement with the diaspora,” Jaishankar said. “A successful, prosperous, and influential diaspora is an advantage for India, and our approach is to tap diaspora networks and utilise its reputation for national gain.”