NRI Community is one of the richest communities of expats in the World. The presence of NRI’s is omnipresent across the globe and they have also been able to garner a sizeable portion of the wealth.

These NRI’s may be well settled abroad and may be earning big but at the end of the day, most of these NRI’s want to come back in India, as their love for their hometown still exists at the core of their hearts. And with Real Estate in India giving better returns than western countries, NRI Investment in India has started increasing.

Moreover, with many NRI’s wanting in settle in India in the future, NRI Investment in India in Real Estate is witnessing new highs as it not only gives a good return on investment but also gives them a cushion for settling in India.

NRI Investment in India: No RBI Approval required

To facilitate NRI Investment in India, RBI has also eased the norms for NRI Investment in India and Investment can be made via the automatic route. The introduction of the Automatic Route has simplified much of the cumbersome process. Approval from the Reserve Bank is not required anymore, and NRI’s are now not required to go to Foreign Investment Paper Board for approval for NRI Investment in India.

With the introduction of automatic route for NRI Investment in India, NRI’s are now more comfortable investing in India as it has led to easing of paper work for NRI Investment in India. This convenience and easy handling has given a boost to overseas investor confidence for investing in India leading to increase in NRI Investment in India.

A Person of Indian Origin resident outside India does not require any permission to acquire any immovable property other than agricultural land/farm house/plantation property in India by purchase, from out of funds

  1. Received in India by way of Inward Remittance through Banking Channel from any place outside India; or
  2. Held in Non-Resident Account maintained in accordance with the provisions of the Act and Regulations made by the Reserve Bank of India under the Act.

Apart from NRI Investment in India in Real Estate, NRI’s are always investing in Fixed Deposits and Shares of Indian Companies as the expected return of these instruments in India is much more as compared to the Western Countries.

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NRI Investment in India – Buying/ Selling/Renting of Property

At the time of buying property in India, the payment for the purchase of property shall be made either out of

  1. Funds received in India through normal banking channels by way of inward remittance from any place outside India; or
  2. Funds held in any non-resident account maintained in accordance with the provisions and regulations made by the RBI

No payment for purchase of Property in India by NRI shall be made by way of Traveller’s Cheque or by Foreign Currency Notes or by any other mode other than those specified above.

At the time of transfer of real estate property, the NRI also does not require any permission to transfer the real estate property in India other than agricultural land/farm house/plantation property, by way of sale to a person resident in India

The NRI’s/PIO’s can freely rent out their immovable property in India without seeking any permission from the Reserve Bank of India. The Rental Income being a Current Account Transaction can be freely repatriated outside India.

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NRI Investment in India: Inheritance & Gift of Property

A NRI does not require any permission to acquire any real estate property in India other than agricultural property/farm house/plantation property by way of

  1. Gift from a person resident in India
  2. Inheritance from a person resident outside India who had acquired such property in accordance with the provisions of the foreign exchange law in force at the time of acquisition by him.

NRI Investment in India which is not approved under Automatic Route

In case of PIO/NRI Investment in India not approved under the Automatic Route i.e. acquisition of agricultural land/plantation/property/farm house, a request for such acquisition shall be made to the Chief General Manager, Reserve Bank of India, Central Office, Foreign Exchange Department, Mumbai 400001