Remittances to India are money transfers from non-resident Indians employed outside the country to family, friends or relatives residing in India. India is the world's top receiver of remittances, claiming more than 12% of the world's remittances in 2015. Remittances to India stood at billion in 2017 and remittances from India to other countries totalled billion, for a net inflow of billion in 2017. As per the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, remittance is received from the approximately 35 million members of the Indian diaspora.
History
Overview
Under the Foreign Exchange Management Act of 1999, Non Resident Indians and Persons of Indian Origin can open and maintain three types of accounts namely, Non-Resident Ordinary Rupee Account, Non-Resident Rupee Account and Foreign Currency Non Resident Account – FCNR Account. NRO Accounts are not repatriable except for all current income. Balances in an NRO account of NRIs/ PIOs are remittable up to US$1 million per financial year along with their other eligible assets. NRE Accounts are repatriable. Credits permitted to NRE account are inward remittance from outside India, interest accruing on the account, interest on investment, transfer from other NRE/ FCNR accounts, maturity proceeds of investments. Inward remittances from outside India, legitimate dues in India and transfers from other NRO accounts are permissible credits to NRO account. Since 1991, India has experienced sharp remittance growth. In 1991 Indian remittances were valued at 2.1 billionUSD; in 2006, they were estimated at between $22 billion and $25.7 billion. which grew to $67.6 billion in 2012-13, up from $66.1 billion the fiscal year, 2011-2012, when the remittance exceed the foreign direct investment inflow of $46.84 billion into India. Money is sent to India either electronically or by demand draft. In recent years many banks are offering money transfers and this has grown into a huge business. Around 40% of the India's remittances flow to the states of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh which are among the top international remittance receiving states. States like Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu get most of their remittance from the USA, Kerala from UAE, Punjab from Canada as most of the people migrate from their states to these countries. Research work on remittances to India is listed in the India Migration Bibliography. In recent years many Indian Immigrants have used online money transfer services to send money from overseas to India. In recent years, many new Online and mobile companies have facilitated the transition to online remittances. Even some Indian banks have recently offered such services. A 2012 study, by Reserve Bank of India revealed 30.8% of total foreign remittances was from West Asia, compared to 29.4% from North Americaand 19.5% from Europe.
Remittances to India by fiscal year
The following table illustrates the remittances to India as percent of GDP, 1990–1991 to 2005–2010.
Year
Remittances
Percent GDP
1990–1991
US$2.10 bn
0.70%
1995–1996
US$8.50 bn
3.22%
1999–2000
US$12.07 bn
2.72%
2000–2001
US$12.85 bn
2.84%
2001–2002
US$15.40 bn
3.29%
2002–2003
US$16.39 bn
3.39%
2003–2004
US$21.61 bn
3.69%
2004–2005
US$20.25 bn
3.03%
2005–2006
US$24.55 bn
3.08%
2006–2007
US$29.10 bn
2007–2008
US$37.20 bn
2008–2009
US$51.60 bn
2009–2010
US$55.06 bn
2011–2012
US$66.10 bn
4.00%
2012–2013
US$67.60 bn
2013-2014
US$70.39 bn
2014-2015
US$66.30 bn
2015–2016
US$62.70 bn
2016–2017
US$65.30 bn
2017–2018
US$80.00 bn
Remittances to and from India by country
In 2017, a total of US$68.968 billion was made in remittances to India from other countries, and a total of US$5.710 billion was made in remittances to other countries from India, for a net inflow of $63.258 billion. Figures for remittances between India and Pakistan are not available. The table on left lists the major source countries for remittances to India, and the table on the right lists the major destination countries for remittances from India in 2017.
Remittances to India
Figures for remittances between India and Pakistan are not available.
Remittances from India
Figures for remittances between India and Pakistan are not available.
