By Girish Chhalwani, Co-Founder, Lords of the Lands · 20+ years in Maharashtra land acquisition, tenure and plotted development · 8 min read · Last updated 23 September 2026

The rules on this are clearer than the market’s confusion suggests. Most of the uncertainty NRIs encounter comes from sellers and brokers who do not know the distinction between the three excluded categories and everything else — or who do know, and are selling something in an excluded category.

Here is the position, stated precisely, with the sources.

What is the governing law?

Section 6(5) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, read with the Non-debt Instruments Rules, 2019 — Rule 24 in particular — which since 2019 has governed a non-resident’s acquisition and transfer of immovable property, administered by the RBI.

Section 6(5) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, read with the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019 — Rule 24 in particular, which deals with the acquisition and transfer of immovable property in India.

The earlier framework sat in FEMA regulations; since 2019 immovable property rules for non-residents sit in the NDI Rules, made by the Central Government, with the RBI administering them. When you read older articles citing repealed regulation numbers, the substance is broadly similar but the citation is stale.

Who does this apply to?

NRIs and OCI cardholders may buy non-agricultural property freely; a foreign national of non-Indian origin needs RBI approval, and citizens of certain listed countries need prior RBI approval regardless of where they live — that last restriction turns on citizenship, not residence.

The last row catches people by surprise and is worth checking early, because it turns on citizenship rather than on where someone lives.

What property in India may an NRI or OCI buy?

Any immovable property in India except agricultural land, plantation property and a farm house — which means a flat, office, shop, industrial property or a non-agricultural plot is all permitted without RBI approval, since a plot in a sanctioned NA layout is not agricultural land.

Any immovable property in India, other than three things:

• Agricultural land.
• Plantation property.
• A farm house.

That is the whole exclusion list, and everything else is permitted without RBI approval — a flat, an office, a shop, industrial property, and a non-agricultural plot of land.

Read that last item carefully, because it is the one that matters for land buyers. A plot in a sanctioned non-agricultural layout is not agricultural land. The exclusion is about the land’s character and use position, not about the fact that it is open ground rather than a building.

What is the trap with “land”?

That what matters is the parcel’s status at the moment of acquisition, not the label: land still agricultural on the record but sold on a promise of conversion is an acquisition of agricultural land, and therefore outside what an NRI or OCI may buy — the NA status must be established in documents before you pay.

This is where NRI buyers lose money, so it deserves its own section.

The question is not whether you are buying “land”. It is whether the parcel is agricultural land at the point you acquire it. A parcel that is still agricultural on the record, being sold with an assurance that conversion will happen later, is an acquisition of agricultural land — and that is outside what an NRI or OCI may acquire.

Since Maharashtra’s 2025 reform, conversion happens through planning sanction rather than a separate NA order, which makes the status question slightly less intuitive and considerably more important. What you need established, in documents, before you pay anything:

1. What the current 7/12 extract says the land is.
2. Whether the layout has been sanctioned by the planning authority with jurisdiction, and whether your plot is inside that sanction.
3. Whether the premium position is clear.
4. Whether the revenue record has been updated to reflect the changed use — and if not, when it will be.

“It will be NA by the time we register” is not a document. Either the status is established at the time of acquisition or you are taking a FEMA risk on top of the ordinary land risks.

How must the money move?

Only through normal banking channels — an inward remittance from abroad or funds in an NRE, NRO or FCNR(B) account — never by traveller’s cheque, foreign currency notes or cash outside the banking channel, and the remittance trail should be kept for eventual repatriation.

Consideration must be paid out of funds received in India through normal banking channels by way of inward remittance from outside India, or out of funds held in an NRE, NRO or FCNR(B) account maintained in accordance with the Act and rules.

Three prohibitions follow, and they are absolute:

• No payment by traveller’s cheque or foreign currency notes.
• No payment by any mode other than those specified above.
• No cash consideration outside the banking channel.

Keep the remittance advice, the bank statements and the payment trail. They are what evidence a lawful acquisition years later when you want to sell and repatriate, and reconstructing them is unpleasant.

What about inheritance and gift?

Inheritance is more permissive — an NRI or OCI may inherit even agricultural land, plantation property or a farm house they could not have purchased, though inherited agricultural land can be transferred only to a resident Indian citizen — while gift rules are narrower and need specific advice.

Inheritance is treated differently and more permissively. An NRI or OCI may acquire immovable property in India by way of inheritance from a person resident in India, or from a person resident outside India who acquired it in accordance with the law in force at the time — and this extends to agricultural land, plantation property and farm houses, which cannot be purchased.

So an NRI can inherit the family’s agricultural land, and hold it, even though they could not have bought it. What they can then do with it is constrained: agricultural land may be transferred only to a person resident in India who is an Indian citizen.

Gift rules are narrower than inheritance. Take specific advice before structuring anything as a gift.

What else applies besides FEMA?

FEMA is only the exchange-control layer: state land law on tenure and ceilings, planning law on zone and use, registration and stamp law, and income tax all apply independently — a parcel can be permissible under FEMA and still unbuyable on tenure under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code.

FEMA is the exchange-control layer. It is not the only one, and clearing FEMA does not clear the transaction.

A parcel can be entirely permissible under FEMA and still be unbuyable because of tenure under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code. Both layers have to clear.

What are the practical failure modes?

Buying agricultural land on a promise of conversion, a “farm house” or “farm plot” product whose legal character differs from its marketing, paying part of the price in cash, restricted-country citizenship, keeping no paper trail, or using a power of attorney that was not properly attested abroad.

Buying agricultural land on a promise of conversion. The single most common problem, and it is a FEMA issue as well as a land issue.

A “farm house” or “farm plot” product. Check what is actually being conveyed. Marketing language is not the legal character of the property.

Paying part of the consideration in cash. Breaks the payment rule and destroys the trail you will need to repatriate.

Citizenship of a restricted country. Turns on citizenship, not residence, and needs prior RBI approval.

No paper trail. Years later, at the point of sale and repatriation, the remittance evidence is what makes the exit smooth.

Using a power of attorney without proper attestation. A POA executed abroad needs to be properly notarised, apostilled or consularised and, where required, stamped in India.

How Lords of the Lands handles NRI buyers

Every plot we sell sits in a sanctioned non-agricultural layout, which is the status an NRI or OCI buyer needs established rather than promised — and the sanction, the registration entry, the title flow and the record position are on file and available to read, and to send to your own advocate abroad, before any payment. We take consideration only through banking channels and issue receipts against it, because that trail is what protects your eventual repatriation. Where a buyer’s circumstances need a chartered accountant’s view on tax or remittance, we would rather they took it than that we offered one.

Frequently asked questions

Related reading

For NRI and OCI buyers

• Why NRIs cannot buy agricultural land — the exclusion explained in full
• The NRI document checklist — papers to line up before you remit
• Can an NRI buy land in Maharashtra? — the state-specific version of these rules

NA status and the land trap

• What NA land actually is — the status FEMA requires
• NA plot vs agricultural land — the distinction that decides eligibility
• Maharashtra has scrapped separate NA permission — how conversion works now
• Deemed NA through plan approval — status via sanction, not a separate order
• The one-time NA premium — the cost of the new regime
• How to check a plot’s NA status — confirm it before you pay
• How to read a 7/12 extract — where status actually shows

Title, tenure and documents

• The documents to check, in order — the pack to send your advocate abroad
• Class I vs Class II tenure — the state-law layer beyond FEMA
• Title due-diligence checklist — a clean, marketable chain
• How to run a title search — tracing ownership remotely
• RERA verification for plotted land — the checkable fact, not a broker’s word

Duty, tax and registration

• Stamp duty on a Raigad plot — the 2026 rates
• Capital gains tax on land — what applies on an eventual sale
• Registering a land sale in Maharashtra — the sub-registrar step, by POA if needed

Where NRIs buy, and what we build

• Land vs plotted development — why a sanctioned layout resolves the FEMA question
• The Khopoli-Pali road (SH-93) guide — our core corridor, survey by survey
• Upper Alibaug land in 2026 — a premium coastal corridor
• What Lords of the Lands builds — sanctioned NA layouts, status established not promised

Citations and sources

Sources: Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, Section 6(5); Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019, Rule 24 (acquisition and transfer of immovable property in India), including the exclusion of agricultural land, plantation property and farm houses, the permitted modes of payment, the treatment of inheritance, and the prior-approval requirement for citizens of specified countries; Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966. This article is general information current as of September 2026 and is not legal, tax or investment advice. Positions turn on individual facts — take advice from an advocate and a chartered accountant before transacting. Official sources: RBI (FEMA / NRI) · Mahabhumi 7/12 (Bhulekh) · IGR Maharashtra.