Money should move on your terms.
India gives NRIs structured flexibility under FEMA. The right account, used correctly, makes moving income abroad predictable and operationally simple.
NRE — no ceiling, no tax on interest.
Holds foreign earnings converted to rupees. Principal and interest are fully repatriable with no RBI ceiling, and interest earned remains tax-exempt in India.
It is the default account for an NRI who wants their Indian holdings to behave, financially, the way their foreign income already does.
FCNR — held in foreign currency.
Deposits stay in foreign currency, removing rupee exchange-rate exposure entirely — while offering the same unrestricted repatriation and tax-exempt interest as an NRE account.
For NRIs uneasy about currency swings, this is the structure that decouples returns from the rupee's movement.
NRO — up to USD 1 million a year.
Built for India-sourced income — rent, dividends, pensions. Even here, NRIs may repatriate up to USD 1 million annually, subject to applicable tax compliance.
Combined with Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs), this ceiling rarely becomes a practical constraint — it is simply the process the income follows on its way out.
