MNCs and students.

Apple opened its second store in New Delhi days after opening its first in Mumbai on 18 April 2023. CNBC. "IPhone maker Apple is likely to double the employment base at its contract manufacturers in India to around 2 lakh soon, according to government sources. As per the sources, Apple CEO Tim Cook has sought government support to widen its component supplier base in India." TOI. 'Government support' would mean some sort of tax concession. "UK-based coffee and sandwich chain Pret a Manger is set to become the latest high-profile Western brand to launch an outlet in India. The firm will open its first shop in India's financial hub Mumbai on Friday (today)." BBC. Foreign companies starting up in India is good news but, to put it in context, "Between 2014 and November 2021, up to 2,783 foreign companies left India, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal told parliament. These include Metro AG, Holcim, Ford, Royal Bank of Scotland, Citibank, Harley-Davidson, among others." qz.com. These are famous names and would have employed tens of thousands of people. "Over the past few years, foreign businesses exiting India have outnumbered those entering it. Since 2018, the number of such companies has constantly risen, with the total coming up to 559," while "Up to 469 entered the country during this period, with 2022 seeing an all-time low." qz.com. "In India, for example, MNCs have exited due to arbitrary tax regime, accumulated losses, over capacity, land acquisition issues and lack of expected growth due to market anomalies. In the case of some companies, the decision to leave India was attributed to multi-nation strategy to get out of non-profitable operations and focus on easier markets." BT. And, where there is desperation there is bound to be exploitation. "Business is booming in India's $117 billion education industry and new colleges are popping up at breakneck speed. Yet thousands of young Indians are finding themselves graduating with limited or no skills," so that, "Desperate to get ahead, some of these young people are paying for two of three degrees in the hopes of finally landing a job." ET. Sadly, two or three useless certificates are as worthless as one. Faced with a bleak future some seek luck abroad. Here too sharks await. In march, "Over 700 Indians in Canada face deportation after their college entrance offer letters, on which they entered the country on a study visa three to four years ago, were discovered to be false, according to reports." India Times. "At least five Australian universities have placed bans or restrictions on students from some Indian states, amidst a surge of fraudulent applications from South Asia seeking to work - not study - in this country, according to a media report." ET. Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat are among 8 states named. "As many as 1.49 lakh (149,000) Indians were detained while trying to unlawfully enter the US between February 2019 and March 2023, according to the US Customs and Border Protection data." The Wire. In recent months, several families from Gujarat have died while trying to cross illegally into the US. DW. "The US Census Bureau estimates that around 587,000 undocumented migrants from India currently live in the US." It's a good thing they do not give us a bill for the cost of detection and deportation of illegal Indians. Could run into billions of dollars.