Financial decisions rarely wait for convenient timing, and for Indians living abroad, they come with an added layer of complexity: two sets of rules, two tax systems, and often, two very different ideas of what counts as a smart investment. This is exactly the gap Ashutosh Financial Services set out to address through its regular financial awareness sessions. The belief driving these initiatives is simple but firm: good financial decisions rest on good financial understanding, and that understanding has to be built deliberately, one topic at a time.
On 17th July 2020, this commitment took the form of a webinar titled “Important Regulations & Investment Rationale for NRI in Present Times,” aimed specifically at Non-Resident Indians navigating the practical side of managing money across borders. The session was led by Daxesh Kothari, who walked participants through two connected areas: the regulatory framework NRIs need to work within, and the case for continuing to invest in India even during an uncertain global period. For an audience juggling foreign residency rules, Indian banking norms, and shifting market conditions, both halves of the discussion were directly relevant.
The regulatory portion opened with a question that trips up more people than one might expect: who actually qualifies as an NRI? Under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, residency hinges on where a person has lived for more than 182 days in the preceding financial year, along with the intent behind their stay abroad — whether for employment, business, or any purpose suggesting an uncertain period overseas. The session also clarified the related but distinct category of Overseas Citizens of India, explaining who qualifies for OCI status and the specific exclusions that apply, including that citizens of Pakistan and Bangladesh are not eligible.
From there, the discussion moved into banking, an area where small mistakes carry real consequences. NRIs cannot legally hold a resident savings account in India; it must be either closed or converted once residency status changes. The session broke down the three main non-resident account types — NRO, NRE, and FCNR — comparing them across currency, taxability, repatriability, and who can operate them jointly. An NRO account, for instance, holds non-repatriable rupee funds and is taxable, while an NRE account is fully repatriable and tax-free. FCNR accounts allow deposits in foreign currency itself. The session also covered how NRIs can transfer up to USD 1 million per financial year from an NRO account to an NRE account or abroad, provided applicable taxes are paid — a relaxation, Kothari noted, rather than an entitlement.
Power of Attorney arrangements received detailed attention too, since many NRIs rely on someone in India to manage their affairs. The session outlined what a POA can and cannot do — it can facilitate rupee payments and investments, but cannot be used to gift funds to a resident on the NRI’s behalf, and specific stamping and registration requirements apply depending on whether movable or immovable property is involved. Related but often overlooked areas, including how PPF accounts are treated once someone becomes an NRI and how Aadhaar and PAN linkage rules apply differently to non-residents, rounded out this part of the session.
The second half turned to why India remains a reasonable investment destination despite global disruption. The session pointed to India’s comparatively contained COVID-19 case numbers at the time, a domestic-consumption-driven economy less exposed to global trade slowdown, falling crude oil prices benefiting an import-dependent economy, and healthy foreign exchange reserves. It also noted that domestic institutional flows into Indian equities have consistently outpaced and offset foreign institutional outflows, making Indian markets somewhat less vulnerable to global sentiment swings than they might otherwise be.
Practical portfolio guidance followed, shaped by where an NRI is based. For those in developed economies like the US, UK, or Australia, the session suggested that fixed-income options offer limited advantage given narrow real-return differences, making equity-oriented mutual funds or portfolio management services more worthwhile for participating in India’s growth. For NRIs in developing economies, debt instruments were framed as offering genuine security value, alongside equity exposure. Across both groups, the consistent advice was to keep investments in a form that can be managed, liquidated, and repatriated remotely — a consideration that matters as much for the next generation as for the investor.
Sessions like this reflect an ongoing effort to make sense of rules that rarely stay static and markets that rarely stay predictable. Ashutosh Financial Services continues to organise these conversations because informed decisions, particularly ones made from thousands of miles away, deserve a clearer starting point than most people are given.
