Most Indian students are in Canada, 14 study in Pakistan too

Canada has emerged as the most preferred destination for Indian students, with an estimated 427,000 of them studying there. This was followed by the United States, which is home to 337,630 Indian students, Parliament was informed on Thursday.

The government said the total number of Indians pursuing higher studies in foreign countries is more than 13 lakh.

Indian students in 108 countries

Minister of state for external affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh gave the data when he was asked if the government maintains data of students going abroad for studies.

He said Indian students were spread across 108 countries, including Canada, the US, Britain, Australia, Germany, France, Singapore, Russia, Israel, and Ukraine.

The total number of Indian students abroad in 2024 was 13,35,878, up 13,18,955 in 2023 and 9,07,404 in 2022.

Greece and Pakistan too

A total of 8,580 Indian students were in educational institutions in China, 2,510 in Ukraine, 900 in Israel, 14 in Pakistan and eight in Greece.

The minister said that Indian missions constantly engage with Indian students studying overseas and encourage them to either register with them or on the Global Rishta Portal.

Visa free entry for Indians

The Indian missions also coordinate with the authorities in the host governments to secure data on the number of Indian students overseas, the minister said.

Singh also said that India was continuously making efforts to increase the number of countries that may provide visa free entry travel and visa-on-arrival facilities to Indians.