By Girish Chhalwani, Co-Founder, Lords of the Lands · ~8 min read · Last updated: 23 September 2026

Can an NRI buy land in Maharashtra?

Yes — an NRI or OCI can legally buy non-agricultural land anywhere in Maharashtra, including a plotted layout in a growth corridor, but the purchase must fall within what FEMA, 1999 permits.

Under Rule 24 of the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-Debt Instruments) Rules, 2019 — the rule the Reserve Bank of India‘s own Master Direction on this subject (RBI/FED/2015-16/7) restates for authorised banks — an NRI or OCI “may acquire immovable property in India other than agricultural land, farmhouse or plantation property.” That single carve-out is the whole ballgame for a land buyer: everything else in this post follows from it.

Who counts as an NRI or OCI under this rule

An NRI is an Indian citizen resident outside India; an OCI is a foreign citizen of Indian origin holding an Overseas Citizen of India card — and FEMA treats both the same way for property purchase.

Neither needs RBI’s prior permission to buy eligible (non-agricultural) immovable property in India. A foreign national who is not of Indian origin sits outside this post’s scope — that category faces materially tighter restrictions, including on ordinary residential purchase, and should take separate advice before assuming these rules apply to them.

What can an NRI or OCI buy — and what is barred

The general rule: an NRI/OCI may purchase any immovable property in India by way of purchase or gift, except agricultural land, plantation property and farmhouses — which they may acquire only by inheritance.

RBI’s own FAQ on this (confirmed live on rbi.org.in, updated 2023 and unrevised on this point through September 2026) states it plainly: purchase is permitted “other than agricultural land/ farmhouse/ plantation etc,” while such restricted categories can pass to an NRI/OCI only by inheritance from someone who held the property lawfully. A plotted residential or commercial layout — land already carrying a non-agricultural classification — sits squarely in the permitted category. Land still carrying an agricultural classification does not, no matter how “development-ready” it is described as being.

Does the agricultural-land bar affect a plotted NA layout?

It affects it directly: an NRI cannot lawfully complete the purchase of a plot that is still classified agricultural on record, which is why confirming NA (non-agricultural) status comes before price negotiation, not after.

In Maharashtra, a plot’s land-use status is shown on its 7/12 extract — see our companion piece on checking a plot’s NA status for how to read it and how the December 2025 Maharashtra Land Revenue Code amendment changed the conversion process itself. For an NRI buyer specifically, this is not only a prudence check; it is the line FEMA draws between a transaction the law permits and one it does not. LOTL’s analysis: this is one reason plotted developments sold with clean, pre-converted NA titles are structurally easier for NRI buyers than raw or under-conversion agricultural parcels — the FEMA question is already resolved before the file reaches a lawyer.

How must an NRI pay for the plot?

Payment has to move through the banking system — never as cash, a traveller’s cheque or foreign currency notes — using an inward remittance or a debit to an NRE, NRO or FCNR(B) account.

In plain terms: an NRE (Non-Resident External) account holds foreign earnings converted to rupees and is freely repatriable, principal and interest both; an NRO (Non-Resident Ordinary) account holds India-sourced income such as rent and has capped, taxed repatriation; an FCNR(B) (Foreign Currency Non-Resident, Bank) account is a foreign-currency term deposit. RBI’s Master Direction and its FAQ both specify that the authorised dealer bank handling the transaction verifies the funds came through one of these routes — an over-the-counter cash payment or a physical foreign-currency handover is not a valid method under FEMA, whatever a seller may be willing to accept informally.

What happens to the money if the NRI sells later?

Repatriation of the sale proceeds is allowed, but it is capped: at most two residential properties over the NRI’s lifetime, and an overall outward remittance ceiling of USD 1 million per financial year, both confirmed on RBI’s live FAQ page as of September 2026.

Within the NRE route, the amount repatriable cannot exceed what was originally remitted in foreign exchange to buy the property; sale proceeds routed through an NRO account draw on the general USD 1 million per financial year cap and require the standard income-tax clearance before the authorised dealer bank will release the funds abroad. Illustrative Example (not an LOTL transaction): an NRI who paid for a plot entirely via NRE remittance and later sells it can, subject to tax clearance, repatriate the sale proceeds up to that same remitted amount plus any capital gains, within the annual ceiling — the cap is on the outward remittance in a financial year, not on the sale itself.

What RERA protections apply to an NRI buying a plotted layout?

An NRI or OCI buyer gets exactly the same RERA protections as a resident buyer — there is no separate or lesser regime for non-resident purchasers under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016.

A plotted layout must carry a MahaRERA registration number unless it qualifies for the exemption — land area of 500 sq m or less, OR 8 plots or fewer (either condition alone is enough to exempt it, not both), per MahaRERA Circular 25A/2023. Anything exceeding either threshold needs registration, searchable on the MahaRERA website, and the promoter must issue a standard Agreement for Sale disclosing plot/carpet area, timelines and the project’s escrow arrangement. For an NRI who cannot easily visit the site before signing, this registration record — not a broker’s assurance — is the checkable fact: confirm the MahaRERA number, the project’s registered promoter name and its declared completion date match what you are being sold, before any funds move.

Step by step: how an NRI buys plotted land in Maharashtra

1. Confirm eligibility. Establish you are an NRI or OCI (not a foreign national outside these categories) — this decides which FEMA route applies.
2. Confirm the plot’s NA status. Pull the 7/12 extract and confirm the land-use column shows a non-agricultural classification, not a crop — an agricultural plot is not a purchase FEMA permits an NRI to complete.
3. Check the MahaRERA registration. Verify the project’s MahaRERA number and promoter name on the MahaRERA portal if the plot sits within a registered layout.
4. Run title due diligence. Confirm the seller’s clear and marketable title, encumbrances and mutation history — the same check any buyer should run, done before funds move rather than after.
5. Open or activate an NRE, NRO or FCNR(B) account with an authorised dealer bank if you don’t already hold one, and route the purchase funds through it or via direct inward remittance.
6. Execute the sale agreement and pay stamp duty, using a Power of Attorney to a trusted representative in India if you cannot be present for registration.
7. Register the conveyance at the Sub-Registrar’s office covering the plot’s jurisdiction, and retain the registered deed and payment trail — this documentation is what a bank will later ask for on repatriation.
8. Keep the remittance and tax paper trail (bank inward-remittance certificates, PAN, tax filings) from day one — it is what makes future repatriation of sale proceeds straightforward rather than contested.

What did not change in 2026

The FEMA position on NRI/OCI immovable property — the agricultural-land bar, the permitted payment routes, and the repatriation caps — is unchanged as of September 2026.

The Foreign Exchange Management (Non-Debt Instruments) (Third Amendment) Rules, 2026, notified 12 June 2026, revised Rules 9, 12 and 13 and Schedules II–III of the NDI Rules — widening who counts as an eligible foreign individual investor for equity instruments and portfolio holdings. It did not touch Rule 24, the provision governing immovable property. An NRI reading about that 2026 amendment should not assume it altered the land-purchase rule described here — it did not.

FAQ

Before you buy

Related reading

For NRI and OCI buyers

• Can an NRI buy land in India? — the all-India FEMA position behind the Maharashtra rules
• Why NRIs cannot buy agricultural land — the one carve-out that decides every plot
• The NRI property document checklist — papers to line up before you remit

Title, NA status and legal checks

• What NA land actually means — the classification FEMA requires
• The one-time NA premium — what the 2026 conversion change costs
• Title due-diligence checklist — the checks to run before funds move
• How to run a title search — tracing clear, marketable ownership
• How to read a 7/12 extract — where land-use status is shown
• Property card and 8A, explained — the urban land record alongside the 7/12
• Varg-1 vs Varg-2 tenure — freehold versus restricted land
• RERA verification for plotted land — what to confirm on the MahaRERA portal
• Checking a MahaRERA registration — validity and quarterly progress reports
• Registering a land sale in Maharashtra — the sub-registrar step, with or without a POA

Costs, tax and repatriation

• The true cost of buying a plot — beyond the headline price
• Stamp duty on a Raigad plot — the 2026 rates
• Capital gains tax on land — what applies when you sell
• Is there GST on a plot purchase? — the short answer for land buyers

Where NRIs are buying: corridors

• The Khopoli-Pali road (SH-93) guide — our core corridor, survey by survey
• Karjat land prices in 2026 — a popular weekend-plot belt
• Panvel plots in 2026 — the NAINA and airport-side market
• Shrivardhan land in 2026 — the Konkan coastal option
• Upper Alibaug land in 2026 — a premium coast-facing corridor

Citations and sources

Figures, rules and timelines in this guide are drawn from Maharashtra government records and official portals; verify every plot’s records independently before you transact. This is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Official sources: RBI (FEMA / NRI) · Mahabhumi 7/12 (Bhulekh) · IGR Maharashtra.