Things started changing about 10 years when in a liberalized environment banks began contemplating time-tested moves (as experienced in the developed countries) in the retail loan segment to deepen the base of the financial market.

And this almost brought a revolution in the Indian banking. Property financing options for an NRI in India are as easy as they are for a resident citizen. On an overall basis, it is subject to the following conditions:

• Loan should be sought from an authorized dealer or housing financing institution approved by the national housing bank (NHB).
• Amount of loan, margin to be met and repayment period will be as applicable to a person residing in India.
• The loan proceeds, however, cannot be credited to non-residential external (NRE)/ foreign currency non-resident (FCNR)/non-resident non-repatriable account of the borrower.
• Loan will have to fully secured. The acquired property will be offered as security by equitable mortgage.
• The repayment of loan, interest and other charges shall be by the borrower out of remittances outside India through the normal banking channels. This may be from the funds of the borrower in his non-resident external (NRE), foreign currency non-resident (FCNR), non-resident non-repatriable (NRNR), non-resident ordinary (NRO), non-resident special rupee (NRSR) account in India. The rental income out of acquired property acquired can also be used to meet repayment obligations.
• No special interest rate will be charged from them and it will simply be in accordance with the RBI, National Housing Bank (NHB) guidelines in this matter.