Remittances to India are money transfers from non-resident Indians (NRIs) employed outside the country to family, friends or relatives residing in India. India is the world's leading receiver of remittances, claiming more than 12% of the world's remittances in 2015. Remittances to India stood at US$68.91 billion in 2015, accounting for over 4% of the country's GDP. As per the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA), remittance is received from the approximately 25 million members of the Indian diaspora.
Contents
A total of US$8.476 billion was made in remittances by foreign workers in India to their home countries.
Overview
Under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) of 1999, Non Resident Indians (NRIs) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) can open and maintain three types of accounts namely, Non-Resident Ordinary Rupee Account (NRO Account), Non-Resident (External) Rupee Account (NRE Account) and Foreign Currency Non Resident (Bank) Account – FCNR (B) Account.
Since 1991, India has experienced sharp remittance growth. In 1991 Indian remittances were valued at 2.1 billion USD; 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(FDI) inflow of $46.84 billion into India.
Money is sent to India either electronically (for example, by SWIFT) 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, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh which are among the top international remittance-dependent economies of the world. Research work on remittances to India is listed in the India Migration Bibliography.
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 America and 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.
Remittances to and from India by country
In 2015, a total of US$68.91 billion was made in remittances to in India from other countries, and a total of US$8.476 billion was made in remittances by foreign workers in India to their home countries. 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 2015.