Australia may lose $78m as flow of Indian students is likely to drop

Australia is set to suffer huge financial losses in the wake of recent attacks on Indian students. There will be 4,000 fewer Indians coming to Australia to study next year. The Tourism Forecasting Committee has predicted a fall of more than 20 per cent in terms of arrival of students compared to this year.   

With a series of attacks on Indian students in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia is no longer a preferred choice among Indian students to study. Committee chairman Bernard Salt has also estimated the loss to the tune of $78 million on the economy. 
 
Such a sharp decline can only be attributed to the impact of the treatment meted out to Indian students in the country. This decline has been ascertained after evaluating visa applications which clearly shows a 20 per cent dip. The verdict is surely not in the favour of Australia, as it is set to lose on the financial front. 
 
Gautam Gupta, the president of the Federation of Indian Students of Australia, does not find anything amiss in this minor drop against the earlier expectations of a major decline. Gupta was hoping for a drop of about 50 per cent, and thus he’s happy with such an insignificant figure as predicted.  
 
Mr Gupta believes that the number and trend will both get back on the track the next year if the attack rate continues to fall.