CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Property Investing in India

India is undoubtedly an emerging market – with all the potential for capital appreciation which that entails. Yet it is also a market in which transactions take place in English, finance and banking is straightforward, and a growing middle class ensures a healthy rental market.

The rocketing population creates a constant demand for property, meaning that India unarguably presents an interesting prospect for real estate investors.

There is, however, a catch. The opportunity to buy is restricted to people with strong personal links to India, defined as either non-resident Indians (NRI) or persons of Indian origin (PIO). This means either Indian citizens living abroad or people who have held an Indian passport at some time, have a parent or grandparent with Indian citizenship or are married to an Indian citizen.

Technically foreign citizens of Indian origin also need agreement from the Reserve Bank, but a general permission to buy immoveable property has been granted.

If the buyer has status as an NRI or PIO the rule is as follows:

An Indian citizen residing outside India (NRI) can acquire by way of purchase, any immovable property in India other than agricultural, plantation or farm house. He is allowed to transfer such kind of immovable property to a person resident outside India who is a citizen of India or to a person of Indian origin resident outside India or a person resident in India.

Is This a Good Place to Buy?

The growth of India’s middle classes is one of the big demographic…