NRI Property Buying Rules in India: 2026 Buyer Rulebook

The core rule for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) comes from the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, and the related Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regulations on acquisition and transfer of immovable property. Under this framework, an NRI or OCI can purchase residential and commercial property anywhere in India without any prior approval from the RBI, and there is no cap on the number of residential or commercial units an individual can own. This is the single most important rule to internalize before shortlisting a project in Gurgaon or anywhere else. However, the same framework places a hard restriction on three categories: agricultural land, plantation property, and farmhouses. These cannot be purchased by an NRI or OCI through a normal sale deed. They can only be received by way of inheritance from a resident Indian, or by gift from a close relative who is a resident Indian, subject to the usual gift tax rules. This matters in Gurgaon because many peripheral plots marketed as investment opportunities are still classified as agricultural land that has not been formally converted to residential use through CLU (Change of Land Use) under the Haryana Town and Country Planning department. Before you sign a token or allotment letter on any plot, ask for the CLU order and the Haryana RERA registration. Both documents should name the same khasra numbers that appear on the title chain.

FEMA requires that the entire consideration for the property, plus stamp duty, registration, and brokerage, be routed through banking channels. Cash payment of any portion is not permitted for NRIs, and in any case Indian income tax rules cap cash in a single property transaction at Rs 20,000 under section 269SS. For NRIs, the acceptable sources are inward remittance from abroad through normal banking channels, or debits to an NRE (Non-Resident External), NRO (Non-Resident Ordinary), or FCNR(B) (Foreign Currency Non-Resident Bank) account held with an authorized dealer bank in India. Travellers cheques and foreign currency notes are not acceptable for property payments. Most Gurgaon developers insist on cheque, demand draft, or NEFT or RTGS from one of these accounts, and will record the account number on the receipt. If you are a joint buyer with a resident Indian spouse, make sure the application form clearly states each person's share and the source account for each instalment, because this affects your capital gains calculation and repatriation later. Home loans from Indian banks or housing finance companies are permitted for NRIs, and the loan amount must also be disbursed into the seller's account through banking channels, never in cash. EMIs can be paid from NRE, NRO, or FCNR(B) accounts, or by direct remittance from abroad, or from rental income on the property or any other Indian asset.

This is the rule that catches most first-time NRI buyers off guard, usually at the point of resale rather than purchase. Under FEMA, if you originally paid for the property out of foreign exchange sources, meaning inward remittance or debits to your NRE or FCNR(B) account, then the sale proceeds up to the original foreign exchange amount can be repatriated freely, subject to a lifetime cap of two residential properties for this fast-track route. Any amount beyond the original foreign exchange, or sale of a property that was originally bought from rupee funds in an NRO account, is treated as rupee funds in your NRO account. From the NRO account, you can repatriate up to USD 1 million per financial year (April to March), covering all heads together: sale of property, inheritance, dividends, rent, and so on. Repatriation requires two chartered accountant certificates, Form 15CA and Form 15CB, filed on the income tax portal, confirming that applicable taxes have been paid. For a large Gurgaon apartment sold at, say, Rs 12 Cr, this means a buyer who used only NRO funds originally may need two to three financial years to repatriate the full amount, planned carefully with a CA. Build this timeline into your exit plan before you buy, especially if the property is being held as part of a diversification strategy rather than for family use.

Three tax layers apply at different stages. At purchase, if the seller is a resident Indian and the sale value is Rs 50 lakh or more, the NRI buyer must deduct TDS at 1 percent under section 194-IA and deposit it against the seller's PAN. If the seller is also an NRI, the TDS rule is very different and the buyer must deduct TDS under section 195 on the entire sale consideration, not just the gain, at 20 percent plus surcharge and cess for long-term capital gains (holding over 24 months) or 30 percent plus surcharge and cess for short-term. The buyer needs a TAN for this. On holding, rental income is taxable in India in the usual slabs, with a 30 percent standard deduction and a deduction for home loan interest. The tenant must deduct TDS at 30 percent on rent paid to an NRI landlord, which the landlord later claims back or adjusts while filing the Indian return. On selling, the NRI seller faces long-term capital gains at 12.5 percent without indexation (post-July 2024 regime), with the option to claim section 54 or 54EC exemptions by reinvesting in another residential property or in specified bonds within the stipulated windows. India has Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements with over 90 countries, so the Indian tax paid can usually be credited against tax in the country of residence; keep Form 26AS and the Indian ITR safely for your foreign filing.

Most NRI buyers in Gurgaon cannot be physically present for every builder visit, loan signing, registration appointment, and possession walkthrough. A Special Power of Attorney (SPA) in favour of a trusted family member or lawyer in India solves this. The SPA should list specific acts, including signing the agreement to sell, paying instalments, signing loan documents, appearing before the sub-registrar for registration, taking possession, and representing the owner before builders, HRERA, and resident welfare associations. A General Power of Attorney for property matters is also used but SPAs are preferred for a single transaction because they limit risk. The SPA must be executed on stamp paper in India, or executed abroad on plain paper and then notarized by a notary public in your country of residence, attested by the Indian embassy or consulate, or apostilled under the Hague Convention if the country is a signatory, and then adjudicated at the collector of stamps office in India within three months of its arrival for stamp duty, which in Haryana is a nominal amount. Alongside the POA, keep ready: PAN card (mandatory for all property transactions over Rs 10 lakh), OCI card or valid Indian passport, overseas address proof, two recent passport photographs, and bank statements for the account from which payments will originate. Builders in Gurgaon will typically ask for a self-declaration of NRI status and copies of the pages of your passport showing visa and stay in the foreign country.

Gurgaon has its own layer of risk that generic NRI guides often miss. First, check HRERA registration at haryanarera.gov.in for every new launch and under-construction project. Verify the HRERA ID printed on the brochure matches the project name, promoter, and the exact tower you are buying in. The HRERA portal also publishes the quarterly progress report, approved plans, and complaints filed, which is the single best source of pre-purchase due diligence. Second, confirm the land title: for DLF, Unitech, M3M, Experion, and other licensed colonies, the licence from the Director of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) Haryana should be in order, and the land must be free of HSVP (Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran) encumbrances if it is on peripheral sectors. Third, for Dwarka Expressway (NH-248BB) and New Gurgaon projects, confirm the external development charges (EDC) and infrastructure development charges (IDC) status, because arrears here have caused possession delays. Fourth, obtain the latest property tax receipt from MCG (Municipal Corporation Gurugram) if the property is in an MCG area, and the water and electricity NOCs. Fifth, if buying resale, insist on a title search report from an independent lawyer, not the one recommended by the seller, covering the last 30 years of chain of title. For a brief on the local market, see our locality pages and project primers linked below, and for an operational walk-through of the ownership transfer, read our general buyer guides.

Indian banks and major housing finance companies offer home loans to NRIs and OCIs for purchase, construction, home improvement, and plot plus construction. The typical loan-to-value is 75 to 80 percent of the property value for properties above Rs 75 lakh, and the tenure is usually capped at 20 years for NRIs, versus 30 years for residents, because lenders want the loan closed before the borrower's professional working life abroad ends. Interest rates are usually benchmarked to repo rate plus a spread, and NRI rates run 10 to 50 basis points higher than resident rates at most lenders. Eligibility is driven by overseas income, usually last three to six months salary slips in English, two years tax returns in the country of residence, continuous overseas employment for at least six months to one year depending on the lender, and a credit score where available (FICO for the US, Experian for the UK, Emirates NBD score for the UAE). The property must be in a lender-approved project; most reputed Gurgaon developments on Golf Course Road, Golf Course Extension Road, Dwarka Expressway, Sohna Road, and the central DLF phases are pre-approved by SBI, HDFC, ICICI, Axis, LIC Housing Finance, and Bajaj Housing Finance. EMIs can be paid from NRE, NRO, FCNR(B), or by direct inward remittance. Interest paid on a home loan for a self-occupied or let-out property qualifies for deduction under section 24(b) of the Income Tax Act, subject to the usual limits.