According to a Bloomberg story citing NPCI International Payments CEO Ritesh Shukla, after success in the local market, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) intends to introduce the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to international markets. It will be a domestic substitute for SWIFT, a cross-border payment system operator with headquarters in Belgium.
“We have substantially replaced cash in India, and now we’re trying to replicate the success in cross-border corridors… According to the paper, “We will establish acceptance for our instruments in the areas where Indians travel regularly.” “Overseas Indians can use our railroads to transfer money inwards directly into their bank accounts. He added that there is room for disruption in the remittances business, where $200 is often sent across borders for $13.
Indians living abroad sent $87 billion home in 2021, the most amount of any country the World Bank has been keeping track of.All residents, including minors, are permitted to freely transmit up to USD 2,50,000 every financial year (April-March) for any permitted current or capital account transaction or a combination of both under the RBI’s Liberalized Remittance Scheme. Additionally, residents may use the foreign exchange facility for limited-time needs up to a total of USD 2,50,000
On February 4, 2004, the Scheme was launched with a USD 25,000 cap. According to the current macroeconomic and microeconomic situations, the LRS limit has been amended gradually. If the sender is a minor, the minor’s legal guardian must countersign the LRS declaration form. Corporations, partnership firms, HUFs, Trusts, etc. are not eligible for the Scheme.According to the World Bank’s most recent report, almost 20% of the $87 billion in remittances that India got in 2021 came from the US, which was also the largest source.
The severity of COVID-19 caseloads and deaths during the second quarter (well above the global average) played a significant role in drawing charitable flows (including for the purchase of oxygen tanks) to the country, according to a World Bank report. “Flows to India (the world’s largest recipient of remittances) are expected to reach $87 billion, a gain of 4.6 per cent,” the report stated.
China, Mexico, the Philippines, and Egypt are listed after India in the report. Remittances to India are expected to increase by 3% to $89.6 billion in 2022, reflecting a decline in the overall stock of migrants due to the high returnee rates from the Arab nations, the report stated.According to the bank, remittances to low- and middle-income countries are expected to have increased by a robust 7.3% to reach $589 billion in 2021. According to projections from the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief, this return to growth is more solid than prior estimates and follows the durability of flows in 2020, when remittances decreased by only 1.7% despite a severe global recession caused by COVID-19.