The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday said that NRIs and OCIs do not require its prior approval for acquisition and transfer of immovable property in India, other than agricultural land, farmhouse and plantation property.
RBI issued the clarification as per the terms and conditions laid down in chapter IX of the Foreign Exchange Management (non-debt instruments) rules, 2019, dated October 17, 2019, issued under Section 46 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) 1999.
The queries received at its various offices with regard to the acquisition of immovable properties by Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) in the wake of a Supreme Court judgment relating to the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA), led to the release of this clarification.
“It is hereby clarified that the concerned Supreme Court Judgment dated February 26, 2021, in Civil Appeal 9546 of 2010 was related to provisions of FERA, 1973, which has been repealed under Section 49 of FEMA, 1999,” RBI said in a release.
At present, the central bank said “NRIs/OCIs are governed by provisions of FEMA 1999 and do not require prior approval of RBI for acquisition and transfer of immovable property in India, other than agricultural land/ farmhouse/ plantation property…”
Further, the central bank said that a large number of queries were received at its various offices based on newspaper reports on the Supreme Court judgement.
