For the Kenyan Indian diaspora, following developments in India often means separating headline noise from what actually affects personal finances and family assets back home. That distinction was the focus of “India 2025 and Beyond: Regulatory Trends and Investment Opportunities,” delivered in Kenya on 6th May 2025 to an audience of high-net-worth NRIs, with Daxesh Kothari and Rajit Kothari presenting. Ashutosh Financial Services organises sessions like this because financial decisions made across borders carry extra complexity, and clarity on regulation, taxation, and investment access is what allows the diaspora to engage confidently with opportunities back home.
The session opened by placing India’s economic position in global context. Among the world’s twenty largest economies, India recorded a 6.20 percent growth rate for 2025, the fastest of the group, and has moved up to become the fourth largest economy by GDP size. This backdrop mattered because it framed the discussion that followed on trade friction: the speakers addressed the 50 percent tariff the United States has imposed on Indian goods, among the highest globally alongside Brazil, and explained that while labour-intensive sectors like textiles, gems and jewellery, marine products, and handicrafts are affected, these sectors form a relatively small part of the overall economy. Sectors such as generic pharmaceuticals, electronics, and IT services remain untouched, and India’s negotiating position with the US continues to prioritise national interest.
From there, the session turned to domestic policy changes shaping the investment climate. Recent income tax reforms have raised the exemption threshold so that income below Rs. 4 lakhs is no longer taxable, with the top rate of 30 percent applying only above Rs. 24 lakhs, a change expected to leave close to Rs. 1 lakh crore in the hands of taxpayers to support spending and saving. Alongside this, GST has been simplified from four rate slabs down to two, at 5 and 18 percent, reducing prices on many goods and contributing to what the presentation described as the strongest Navratri consumer sales in recent years. Monetary policy has moved in the same supportive direction, with the Reserve Bank cutting the repo rate by 100 basis points over the year to 5.50 percent while inflation has eased considerably, creating room for cheaper credit and stronger personal loan growth.
The speakers connected these policy shifts to broader structural strengths: a population of nearly 1.4 billion, with 47 percent under the age of 25, giving India one of the largest English-speaking, skilled workforces in the world; political stability alongside a fiscal deficit targeted at 4.4 percent of GDP for 2025-26; and a digitisation story built on some of the cheapest data costs globally and among the highest UPI transaction volumes anywhere. Infrastructure investment, manufacturing gains from companies diversifying supply chains away from China, and record export levels rounded out the picture of an economy investors increasingly view with confidence, reflected in domestic institutional shareholding in Indian equities rising from 13 to 18 percent between 2015 and 2025, alongside monthly SIP inflows into mutual funds exceeding Rs. 29,000 crore.
A substantial part of the session addressed the practical mechanics NRIs need to navigate. Once someone becomes a non-resident, their existing savings account must convert to an NRO account, and separate account types exist for different purposes: NRE accounts hold freely repatriable rupee funds, FCNR deposits hold foreign currency, and funds can move from NRO to NRE up to a limit of one million US dollars per year, subject to tax clearance. The speakers also clarified documentation requirements, including when Aadhaar and PAN are needed, and how the India-Kenya Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement allows income taxed in India to receive credit against Kenyan tax liability, with concessional rates available on dividends and interest. On succession, they explained that Indian assets pass according to Indian succession law regardless of where the NRI resides, and that nomination alone does not determine legal ownership, a will remains necessary for that clarity.
On the investment side, the session covered how NRIs can participate through equity mutual funds and portfolio management services suited to different risk profiles, alongside routes to invest directly in US equities and access India’s markets through GIFT City funds, which offer simplified compliance for non-resident investors. Throughout, the emphasis stayed on matching structure to purpose rather than promoting any single product. Sessions of this kind reflect Ashutosh Financial Services’ continued commitment to helping the Indian diaspora stay informed and make sound, well-understood financial decisions across two systems at once.
