Presented by: Sainbu Dutt Gupta Mukul Mansharamani Nikhil Bhatia

ANon-Resident Indian(NRI;Hindi: Pravs Bhratya) is anIndian citizen who hasmigratedto another country, a person of Indian origin who is born outside India, or a person of Indian origin who resides permanently outside India. Other terms with the same meaning areoverseas Indianand expatriate Indian. In common usage, this often includes Indian-born individuals (and also people of other nations with Indian ancestry) who have taken the citizenship of other countries.

Ordinary Non-Resident Rupee (NRO) Account. Non Resident (External) Rupee Accounts (NRE A/C). Foreign Currency (Non Resident) Account (FCNR A/C). Non Resident (Non Repatriable) Rupee Deposit Scheme -NR-NR-RD Scheme.

NRIs can open NRO account for transactions in rupees without any approval. It can be maintained in the nature of current, savings, recurring or fixed deposit account. NRIs may also open this account jointly with residents. After the person returns to India permanently, this account can be again designated as a resident account.

NRE account may be opened without any approval if the funds for this account are transferred in freely convertible foreign currency. NRIs may jointly open this account with another NRI. This account can be maintained in the form of saving or current or recurring or fixed deposit account. Balances held in this account and any interest earned on this account are exempt from tax.

FCNR A/C is maintained only in term deposit. The account can be maintained only in Pound Sterling, U.S. dollar, Deutsche Mark and Japanese Yen. The deposit is accepted for a period not below six months and not above three years. Remittance from abroad is to be made in the foreign currency in which the account is desired to be maintained. The balances and the interest on this account are exempt from tax .

NRIs can invest through this scheme in term deposit maintained out of the funds transferred in India in freely convertible foreign currency through proper banking channels. This account is however, maintained in Indian rupees. The deposits can be for a period ranging from 6 months to 3 years.

Remittances to India are money transfers from Indian workers employed outside the country to friends or relatives in India. India is the world's leading receiver of remittances, claiming more than 12% of the world's remittances in 2007. Remittances to India account for approximately 3% of the country's GDP.

Since 1991, India has experienced sharp remittance growth.

Indian remittances totaled 2.1 billion USD; in 2006, they were estimated at between $22 billion and $25.7 billion.

Money is sent to India either electronically for example, by SWIFT or by demand draft. many banks are offering Money transfers and this business has grown in to huge business

Despite economic recession, Indians working abroad had sent

a record $40 billion as remittances to India in just 9 months of calendar year 2008.

As the last quarter is a festival period, the total remittances for the year may even exceed $50 billion. way ahead of World Banks prediction of $30 billion for India in 2008.

In 2007, with $27 billion as remittances, India was placed as the number one recipient of inward remittances globally by World Bank, with China in close second ($25.7 billion). And the story would be no different this year as well. Inward remittances (unlike FII) are considered sticky as this money is sent to India primarily for savings and family spending, and hence would remain in the economy.

As a policy measure, government is also promoting NRI remittances through higher interest rates on NRI deposits. could offset the FII outflow to some extent and thus could reduce the dependence of the economy on FII money. remittances had not/may not fall due to the following reasons. 1. The fear of job loss forces people to save more, especially in the safer Indian financial markets 2. Rise in rupee dollar exchange rate would fetch more rupee than ever when transferred to India 3. Rise in interest rates of FCNR and NRE deposits

With the advent of SWIFT and other international inter-bank money transfer networks, the importance of other retail value transfer systems such as Western Union etc. have come down. the case of any internet based systems, online money transfer systems also offer convenience, speed, traceability etc. to its customers. it allows remittances to be done within the comforts of home.

Following is a non-comprehensive list of varoius Indian banks offering online money transfer to India. AxisRemit This is a service offered by Axis Bank. Money2India This service is offered by ICICI Bank. QuickRemit This service is offered by HDFC Bank.

Citi Online Remit - This service is offered by Citi Bank. Remit2India - This service is offered by Times Money Most of these banks charge a nominal service fee and allow money to be transferred to any bank in India, not just the bank doing the transfer. Linkttp://www.tracenotes.com/reports/remitt ance-india.html