Lok Sabha Question No. 1612 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-05-04
Subject: Facilities to NRIs/OCIs
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: JAYSHREEBEN  PATEL

† 1612.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1612

TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.05.2016

## FACILITIES TO NRIs/OCIs

SHRIMATI JAYSHREEBEN PATEL:

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  number  of  Non-Resident  Indians  (NRIs)  in  the  world, country-wise;
- (b) the  remittances  made  by  NRIs  during  the  last  three  years, year-wise; and
- (c) the facilities provided to NRIs and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) by the Government?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS [GEN. (DR) V. K. SINGH (RETD)]

- (a)    On the basis of data provided by the Indian Missions abroad in April  2016,  there  are  an  estimated  11.5  million  NRIs  in  the  world. The country wise data of the number of NRIs compiled on the basis of  data  received  from  our  Missions  abroad  is  given  in  statement attached as Annexure-I.
- (b)    The  remittances  made  by  NRIs  during  last  three  years  as  per data  obtained  from  Reserve  Bank  of  India  in  April  2016  are  as follows:

## (US $ Billion)

| Year              |   Net |
|-------------------|-------|
| 2012-13           | 64.34 |
| 2013-14           | 65.48 |
| 2014-15           | 66.26 |
| 2015-16 (Apr-Dec) | 47.99 |

- (c)  A statement is attached as Annexure-II.

*****

## Country-wise data of NRIs

|   S.NO. | NAMEOF COUNTRY      |   NRIs |
|---------|---------------------|--------|
|       1 | Afghanistan         |   3000 |
|       2 | Albania             |    100 |
|       3 | Algeirs             |   3500 |
|       4 | Algeria             |   3200 |
|       5 | Angola              |   3500 |
|       6 | Antigua &Barbuda    |    250 |
|       7 | Armenia             |   2500 |
|       8 | Australia           | 432700 |
|       9 | Austria             |  20000 |
|      10 | Azerbaijan          |   1925 |
|      11 | Bahrain             | 295504 |
|      12 | Bangladesh          |   2236 |
|      13 | Belarus             |    250 |
|      14 | Bhutan              |  60000 |
|      15 | Bosnia &Herzegovina |     15 |
|      16 | Brunei              |  11500 |
|      17 | Burkina Faso        |    200 |
|      18 | Burundi             |    465 |
|      19 | Canada              |  18432 |
|      20 | Chile               |    800 |
|      21 | China               |  21000 |
|      22 | Comoros             |     50 |
|      23 | Costa Rica          |    230 |
|      24 | Croatia             |     30 |
|      25 | Cyprus              |   3217 |
|      26 | Denmark             |   6326 |
|      27 | Dominica            |     50 |
|      28 | El Salvador         |      5 |
|      29 | Eritrea             |   1000 |
|      30 | Estonia             |    300 |
|      31 | Fiji                |    800 |
|      32 | Finland             |   5000 |
|      33 | France              |  18000 |
|      34 | Germany             | 219215 |
|      35 | Ghana               |  10000 |
|      36 | Greece              |  12000 |
|      37 | Grenada             |    200 |
|      38 | Guatemala           |    101 |
|      39 | Guinea-bissau,      |    100 |
|      40 | Guyana              |    300 |

## Annexure- I

|   41 | Honduras                | 10      |
|------|-------------------------|---------|
|   42 | Hungary                 | 300     |
|   43 | Indonesia               | 10000   |
|   44 | Iran                    | 4000    |
|   45 | Iraq                    | 9000    |
|   46 | Ireland                 | 17000   |
|   47 | Israel                  | 12467   |
|   48 | Japan                   | 28352   |
|   49 | Jordan                  | 10,000  |
|   50 | Kazakhstan              | 4500    |
|   51 | Kenya                   | 20000   |
|   52 | Kingdom of Saudi Arabia | 2960000 |
|   53 | Kuwait                  | 880567  |
|   54 | Kyrgystan               | 100     |
|   55 | Lao PDR                 | 325     |
|   56 | Latvia                  | 575     |
|   57 | Lebanon                 | 950     |
|   58 | Lesotho                 | 500     |
|   59 | Libya                   | 1650    |
|   60 | Lisbon                  | 6421    |
|   61 | Lithuania               | 700     |
|   62 | Madagascar              | 2500    |
|   63 | Malawi                  | 7200    |
|   64 | Malaysia                | 154274  |
|   65 | Maldives                | 24000   |
|   66 | Mali                    | 200     |
|   67 | Malta                   | 300     |
|   68 | Mauritania              | 200     |
|   69 | Mauritius               | 10751   |
|   70 | Mexico                  | 4000    |
|   71 | Moldova                 | 100     |
|   72 | Mongolia                | 200     |
|   73 | Montenegro              | 10      |
|   74 | Morocco                 | 300     |
|   75 | Mozambique              | 1500    |
|   76 | Myanmar                 | 7650    |
|   77 | Namibia.                | 200     |
|   78 | Nepal                   | 600000  |
|   79 | Nicaragua               | 6       |
|   80 | Norway                  | 7718    |
|   81 | Oman                    | 795 082 |
|   82 | Palestine               | 75      |
|   83 | Panama                  | 2000    |
|   84 | Philippines             | 70000   |
|   85 | Poland                  | 3650    |

| 86    | Republic of Korea        |    10869 |
|-------|--------------------------|----------|
| 87    | Republic of South Africa |    60000 |
| 88    | Romania                  |      950 |
| 89    | Rwanda                   |     2940 |
| 90    | Senegal,                 |      500 |
| 91    | Serbia                   |       39 |
| 92    | Seychelles               |     5000 |
| 93    | Sierra Leone             |      900 |
| 94    | Singapore                |   350000 |
| 95    | Slovak Republic          |      110 |
| 96    | Slovenia                 |       80 |
| 97    | Somalia                  |      100 |
| 98    | South Sudan              |      700 |
| 99    | Spain                    |    35308 |
| 100   | Sri Lanka                |    14000 |
| 101   | St. Kitts &Nevis         |      450 |
| 102   | St. Vincent &Grenadines  |       50 |
| 103   | State of Qatar           |   630000 |
| 104   | Sudan                    |     3400 |
| 105   | Swaziland                |      500 |
| 106   | Sweden                   |    11383 |
| 107   | Switzerland              |     6000 |
| 108   | Syria                    |     2016 |
| 109   | Tajikistan               |      450 |
| 110   | Tanzania                 |    10000 |
| 111   | Thailand                 |    20000 |
| 112   | The Czech Republic       |     2150 |
| 113   | The Gambia &Cabo Verde   |      620 |
| 114   | The Netherlands          |    25000 |
| 115   | Togo                     |      500 |
| 116   | Trinidad &Tobago         |     1800 |
| 117   | Tunisia                  |      120 |
| 118   | Turkey                   |      777 |
| 119   | UAE                      |  2600000 |
| 120   | Uganda                   |    23500 |
| 121   | Ukraine                  |    13140 |
| 122   | United Kingdom           |   325000 |
| 123   | USA                      |  1300000 |
| 124   | Uzbekistan               |      650 |
| 125   | Venezuela                |     6575 |
| 126   | Yemen                    |     5000 |
| 127   | Zambia                   |    15000 |
| 128   | Zimbabwe                 |      500 |
| Total | Total                    | 11508329 |

## FACILITIES TO NRIs*

* On the basis of inputs received from Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

The  Department  of  Industrial  Policy  &  Promotion  formulates  FDI  policy  across various sectors, including investments from NRIs. The  extant policy allows special dispensation  for  NRI  investments  in  construction  development  and  civil  aviation  sector. Further, the investment made by Non-Resident Indians under schedule 4 of FEMA (Transfer or issue of Security by Persons Resident Outside India) Regulations is deemed to be domestic investment at par with the investment made by residents.

## FACILITIES TO OCIs

Facilities  provided  to  Overseas  Citizens  of  India  (OCI)  Cardholders  under  Section 7B(1) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 are as follows:-

- -Multiple entry lifelong visa
- -Exemption from registration in FRRO irrespective of duration of stay
- -Parity with NRIs in economic, financial and educational fields in India except acquisition of agricultural or plantation property
- -Parity with NRIs
-  for inter-country adoption of Indian children
-  for air fares in domestic sector
-  for entry fee to national parks and wild life sanctuaries in India
-  for visiting national monuments, historical sites and museums in India
-  for practice as medical professionals, advocates, architects and CAs
-  to appear in AIPMT and other entrance tests for technical courses in India
- -Permission to OCIs to file an affidavit to declare their address in India

*****