If you're an NRI thinking about a plot in Dholera, the good news is that Indian law is broadly friendly to NRIs buying land — the framework is well-established, banks and registrars are used to handling these transactions, and none of it is exotic. The less-good news is that the process has real steps that don't get talked about clearly in marketing decks, and the wrong shortcut at the wrong point can either invalidate your purchase or create tax headaches years later.
This is a walkthrough of the practical process, based on how NRI purchases in Gujarat typically get done. It is not legal or tax advice. Every NRI's situation is materially different depending on country of residence, income sources, existing PAN status, and repatriation intent. Talk to a CA and a lawyer who handle NRI real estate specifically — the amounts involved make their fee trivial in context.
First: can an NRI buy a plot?
Broadly yes, with one important carve-out. Under FEMA and the RBI's rules governing NRI real estate ownership [SOURCE NEEDED: cite the specific RBI Master Direction / FEMA notification governing NRI acquisition of immovable property]:
- NRIs and OCIs can purchase residential and commercial immovable property in India using inward remittances or from NRE/NRO/FCNR accounts.
- Agricultural land, plantation property, and farmhouses cannot be purchased by NRIs / OCIs (they can only be acquired by inheritance, not purchase).
- Payment must come through banking channels — no cash transactions, no traveller's cheques.
Dholera SIR plots are notified for specific land uses under the master plan. Verify that the plot you're buying is notified for a use category NRIs are permitted to purchase (i.e., not agricultural) — this is straightforward in most SIR-notified layouts, but worth confirming in writing before you send money.
The documentation you'll need
Standard NRI real-estate KYC in Gujarat typically requires:
- PAN card. If you don't have one, you need to apply — no exceptions. The registry will not process without it.
- OCI card or valid Indian passport / expired Indian passport with proof of NRI status depending on your citizenship.
- Overseas address proof — utility bill, driving license, or similar.
- Overseas bank statements (3–6 months) for the account funds will originate from.
- NRE or NRO account at an Indian bank in your name. Most banks will open this remotely for existing customers. Consideration must be paid from these accounts or via direct inward remittance — not from a resident account you might still have from before moving abroad. [SOURCE NEEDED: confirm current RBI rules on permissible source accounts for NRI real-estate consideration]
- Latest passport-size photographs for the sale deed.
If a seller waves you through this saying "we'll figure out the paperwork later" — don't. The registrar will not.
Power of attorney: your decision to make in advance
Most NRIs don't want to fly to Gujarat multiple times for site visits, agreement signing, and registration. The clean solution is a Special Power of Attorney (SPA) granting a trusted person in India — typically a family member, sometimes a lawyer — the authority to sign specific documents on your behalf for this specific transaction.
Key points that trip people up:
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Special, not General. A General PoA gives broad, dangerous authority; a Special PoA is scoped to specified acts (signing this sale agreement, this registration, this particular property). Insist on the Special version.
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Execution and attestation. An SPA executed abroad usually needs to be signed before an official at the Indian consulate/embassy in your country of residence, OR notarised locally and then apostilled if the country is a Hague Apostille signatory [SOURCE NEEDED: confirm current attestation rules; some registrars have specific preferences]. On arrival in India the SPA also needs adjudication and stamp duty payment [SOURCE NEEDED: current Gujarat stamp duty on SPA and time window for adjudication] before the sub-registrar will accept it.
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PAN and Aadhaar of the attorney. The person acting on your behalf will need their own KYC on file.
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Scope carefully. Restrict the PoA to signing agreements and appearing before the sub-registrar for this transaction. Do not authorise the attorney to receive or hold funds unless you have a strong specific reason.
Don't sign a PoA that a seller gives you a template for without your own lawyer reviewing it. Seller-drafted PoAs sometimes contain scope creep that would surprise you later.
Remittance and payment
The two clean paths:
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Inward remittance from your overseas bank directly to the seller's designated bank account. The transfer must have a purpose code correctly declared as real estate purchase, and your remitting bank will typically ask you for the sale agreement or booking form.
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Payment from your NRE / NRO / FCNR account in India. NRE and FCNR balances are already fully repatriable; NRO balances have a repatriation cap [SOURCE NEEDED: current annual USD 1 million NRO repatriation limit and process] which matters if you might sell and repatriate later.
For plotted developments under RERA, the seller is obliged to receive project consideration into a specific RERA-designated project bank account [SOURCE NEEDED: confirm current RERA rule around separate project account for plot developments — is this 70% escrow rule applicable?]. If you're being asked to remit into a general corporate account or a director's personal account, stop.
Keep every remittance advice, purpose code, and Form 15CA/15CB certificate your CA prepares — you'll need them years later at repatriation.
The site visit — do it, even if it's inconvenient
We know this is the annoying part. But an NRI buyer who has not seen the plot themselves is the ideal target for the small population of dishonest sellers, and unfortunately it happens.
If you genuinely cannot travel:
- Send someone you trust (a family member, not the seller's driver) to the plot with the survey number and layout in hand. Have them stand on the plot, video-call you, and walk the boundary.
- Get independent aerial imagery (Google Earth historical view, plus a recent drone shot if a friend can arrange one) and cross-reference it with the layout you're being sold.
- Verify the survey number on the ground via a local revenue office visit or a paid local due-diligence service. Multiple companies in Gujarat offer this specifically for NRI buyers.
The single scam pattern to watch for is being sold a plot that either (a) doesn't exist, (b) is a different plot from the one shown on the layout, or (c) has already been sold to someone else. We wrote a separate post on how to verify a plot exists and isn't already sold — worth reading before you sign.
Tax and post-purchase compliance
Things NRIs commonly overlook after the purchase:
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TDS on purchase. For most NRI purchases the applicable TDS rules apply to the seller side [SOURCE NEEDED: current NRI TDS rules for real-estate transactions — buyer's obligation vs. seller's obligation, applicable rates]. Confirm with your CA before the last tranche of payment.
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Annual holding-period considerations. Long-term vs. short-term capital gains treatment kicks in based on holding period at sale.
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FEMA reporting. Certain acquisitions have reporting requirements even when payment is via NRE.
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Municipal tax registration. Once possession is with you, the plot needs to be registered with the local municipal / panchayat body in your name for property tax purposes.
What we do for NRI buyers
We're set up for this — most of our recent buyers have been NRIs, largely from Gulf and North America. Concretely:
- We share the full document pack (RERA registration, title chain, layout, master plan reference for the phase) over WhatsApp or secure email before any money moves.
- We coordinate with your appointed lawyer and CA — we don't insist you use ours.
- We arrange independent site visits (for you or a nominee) and share drone footage in advance.
- We provide all remittance-facing documentation the moment consideration is agreed, so your CA can prepare 15CA/15CB and your bank has what it needs.
If you want to start with a document pack and a site video before committing to a call, that's what most buyers do. Ping us via WhatsApp with your rough timeline and we'll send it across.
Again — this is a walkthrough, not legal or tax advice. NRI real-estate purchases interact with FEMA, income tax, and the DTAA between India and your country of residence in ways that depend on your specific situation. Talk to a professional before you act.