Indian Community in UAE

The Indian expatriate community is the largest ethnic community in UAE  constituting roughly about 35 percent of the country’s population. The number of  resident Indian Nationals in UAE is estimated to be 4.3 million (2024 data). Approx.  15% of the diaspora is in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and rest in 6 Northern Emirates  including Dubai. Though most of the Indians living here are employed, about 10 per  cent of the Indian population constitutes dependent family members. Among the Indian  States, Kerala is the most represented followed by Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and  Telangana. However, Indians from the other States such as UP, Bihar, Punjab, etc also  form significant portion of the UAE Indian population. 

Indian contact with the UAE dates back several centuries owing to trade and  commercial links between the various Emirates of UAE and India. It uniquely provides a  breadth in terms of numbers and depth in terms of categories of workers employed which  distinguishes it from every other expatriate community in the UAE. 

The profile of the community has changed with the evolving needs of the country: in  the 1970s and 1980s, when the principal requirement here was for blue – collar workers, the  Indian community was blue - collar to the extent of 85-90 per cent, with a negligible  percentage of professionals. In the 1990s, as the need for professionals to meet the need of  the expanding service sector emerged, the profile of the community changed, and today,  around 35 per cent of the Indian community is made up of professionally qualified personnel,  businessmen & other white collar non-professionals and their families. 

Indian Community and Prominent Indians in UAE 

The Indian community has played a major role in the economic development of the  UAE and is respected for its technical competence, sense of discipline & law abiding nature. 

17 eminent Indians and one Indian Community Association from UAE have been honored  with Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award namely Mr. Yussuff Ali M.A (2005), Mr. Syed M Salahuddin  (2007), Mr. B.R. Shetty (2007), Mr. Krishnamurthy Kumar (2008), Dr. J.R. Gangaramani (2009), Dr.  Azad Moopen (2010), Mr. Mohan Jashanmal(2011), Mr. P. Bava Haji (2013), Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil  Parambath (2014), Mr. Bharat Kumar Jayanti Lal Shah (2015), Mr. Ashraf Palara Kunnummal (2015),  Mr. Vasu Sharaff (2017), Mr. Girish Pant (2019), Mr. Surender Singh Kandhari (2019), Dr.  Zulekha Daud (2019), Mr.Siddharth Balachandran (2023), Mr. Ramakrishnan Sivaswamy  Iyer (2025) and India Social & Cultural Centre (ISC) Abu Dhabi (2017). 

Mr. Yussuf Ali was conferred the Padma Shri by the President of India in 2008 and in  the following year Dr. B.R. Shetty and Mr. Sunny Varkey were also honoured with Padma  Shri award. Shri C. K Menon, Dr. J.R Ganagaramani, Shri Azad Moopen and Shri Sundar 

Menon were also conferred the Padma Shri award in the year 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2016  respectively. 

Indian Associations and Cultural activities of the community 

Keeping in line with the diverse linguistic and cultural ethos of India, there are various  linguistic/regional associations for social and cultural activities. All sections of the Indian  community are culturally very active. UAE has a system of registering social organizations  of the expatriate community and, within the guidelines laid down by the UAE Government,  such associations can function freely. There are six registered Indian Associations in Abu  Dhabi/Al Ain.

The registered associations are umbrella bodies and smaller cultural/regional  groupings (affiliated to the registered associations) also function under them. These  associations extend support to the welfare initiatives of the Mission and conduct  cultural/welfare activities regularly including sports activities. The Indian associations  arrange cultural programmes tapping local talent as well as by bringing professional artists  from India. 

A number of cultural programmes involving prominent film artists; music and  dance troupes get organized from time to time. The Mission/Post continues to host cultural  troupes from ICCR and organize various cultural programmes both in its auditorium as well  as at other prominent locations in UAE in collaboration with various Indian associations on a  regular basis. 

Updated on 12.06.2025