The Indian Connection in the Development of Dubai

Dubai has a romantic association with India. A fishing village a hundred years back, it has been transformed into a mega city. But the India connection is there for everybody to see.

The oil boom of the mid sixties fueled a massive surge of development in the Middle East and Dubai was no exception. It rapidly grew into a city of glass and concrete. But dwindling oil revenues made the city rulers look for a alternate source of investment and income.Thus Dubai began the transformation as a tourist paradise as well as a business centre.

The city needed manpower for growth. As the indigenous Arab population was very less, it was important that expats be inducted into Dubai to help fuel the dream of Dubai as a financial and entertainment centre. The nearest source of this man power was the subcontinent consisting of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Obviously India with its larger population was the ideal source for manpower for Dubai.

The reason for this migration of workforce from the subcontinent is not difficult to fathom.. With the bulk of the population living below the poverty line the chance to earn better wages acted as a magnet and workers from the Sub continent and India in particular swarmed into Dubai.

Dubai has a population of about 1.37 million and out of this almost 90% consists of expatriates. Out of the expatriates almost 50% are from India. The vast majority of the Indian population consists of workers involved in construction and menial jobs however a significant number of businessmen and professionals are also in Dubai now.

One aspect of the expat population concerns the male female population ratio needs mention. Males constitute 78% of the population while the female population is only 22%. This lopsided ratio is reflected more in the Indian expat work force where 98% is male. These workers are on work permits and forbidden to bring their families to Dubai. They are thus reduced to the status of second class citizens.

However as Dubai expands some restrictions have been lifted and Indians have made use of it. As an example property can be leased and one can get a resident permit also. But this is only for the well heeled.

But over the years the Indian connection has graduated from the lower echelons upwards and Dubai has invited big Indian conglomerates to be partners in economic projects. Dubai has also expanded the connection to India itself. As an example Dubai World runs Chennai Container Terminal Pvt. Ltd.In addition the Grand Fort Dubai, at Al Furjan is being developed by Bharat Hotels as a joint venture.

However a lot of these projects are on a down slide as the default of Dubai World has affected them. In addition the Indian expatriate work force has been badly bruised. A lot many of them have just been laid off and some sent back to India without being paid even their minimum wages also. The sad conclusion is that when the going was good the work force was exploited and when the going got bad the Indian expat work force was just laid off without any compensation.