RBI to enable NRIs to purchase property jointly with foreign spouse
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) apparently has plans underway to relax the restrictions under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA); in an apparent attempt to enable non-resident Indians (NRIs) to purchase property in India jointly with their spouse holding foreign passports.
RBI executive director G Padmanabhan has called for a review of the existing rules under which NRIs interested in making realty purchases in India as joint property with a foreign citizen spouse is taken to be a special case which requires a prior permission from the RBI on a case-by-case basis.
Noting that the issue necessitates a review in consultation with the Union Government, Padmanabhan said: “I have directed a comprehensive review of FEMA 21(notification) under which such transactions are dealt with.”
Revealing that the number of applications from NRIs to buy property jointly with foreign spouse is on the increase in recent times, Padmanabhan said that the process of approval of such applications takes time because each case requires a specific permission from the RBI.
The regulation which Padmanabhan wants to be reviewed is Notification No. FEMA 21/2000, which lays down the rules that enable an NRI or a Person of Indian Origin (PIO) to buy immovable property in India, other than agricultural land, farm house or plantation property.
Source – The Financial Express
FEMA 21, Foreign Exchange Management Act, G Padmanabhan, Non-Resident Indians, NRIs, RBI, Reserve Bank of India
