Indian Embassy officials here say that the size of the community has increased to 2.8 million, which belies claims there was a "mass exodus" of workers from the Kingdom during the grace period.

Sibi George, deputy chief of mission at the Indian Embassy, told Arab News on Friday that the Saudi government has released figures that also show that 1.4 million workers rectified their status.

"The concern that there would be a mass exodus of Indians from Saudi Arabia was incorrect because the strength of the Indian community in the Kingdom has gone up. Today we are over 2.8 million Indians in Saudi Arabia," said George.

"The fact that the number of Indians in Saudi Arabia increased during the grace period shows that our community has benefited from the grace period and Nitaqat."

There has been a widespread perception in a section of the Indian media that the new labor policy would lead to millions of Indians losing their jobs.

His comments came a day after the Saudi Embassy released statistics in New Delhi to allay fears in India over the Kingdom's new labor laws, saying that 1.4 million Indians had regularized their job status. It said that action was taken against illegal workers irrespective of their nationality.

“During the six months of the grace period, the size of the Indian community in the Kingdom went up to nearly 2.8 million,” the Saudi Embassy said in the statement. It said the Kingdom appreciates the contribution of Indian workers and wants to strengthen ties between the two countries.