Indians have spent a record $31.7 billion dollar under the Reserve Bank of India’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) in FY24, an increase of 17% on year.
The bulk of the spending —$17 billion or 53% of the total — was on account of foreign travel, followed by spending on maintenance of relatives at $4.6 billion.
The share of travel in the total spending under LRS has risen sharply from 3.5% in FY12 to 37% in FY20 and 50% in FY23. Indians have spent $3.6 billion on gifting friends or relatives residing abroad and $3.5 billion for studying abroad last fiscal.
They have also invested $1.5 billion under the LRS scheme in FY24. Under the LRS, all resident individuals are allowed to remit up to $2,50,000 per financial year for any permissible current or capital account transaction or a combination of both.