Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu received 60% of total remittances in FY17, shows RBI data

Mumbai: Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu together received close to 60 percent of the total remittances in the country in the financial year 2016-17, according to a RBI survey. Of the total remittances into the country in 2016-17, 74.2 percent was routed through private sector banks, while the share of public sector banks stood at 17.3 percent. Foreign banks accounted for 8.5 percent of the total remittance, according to RBI’s ‘Inward Remittances Survey’. “Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu together received 58.7 percent of total remittances in 2016-17,” it said. [caption id=“attachment_3911699” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] US dollars. Reuters[/caption] The findings is based on the responses from 42 major authorised dealers (ADs), accounting for 98.3 percent of total remittances in 2016-17. Nearly 82 percent of the total remittances received by the country originated from eight countries - the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, the United Kingdom and Malaysia. In the reporting year, 70.3 percent of all reported transactions were of more than USD 500 and only 2.7 percent were of less than USD 200, the survey showed. More than 50 percent of remittances received by Indian residents were used for family maintenance such as consumption (59.2 percent), followed by deposits in banks (20 percent) and investments in landed property and shares (8.3 percent). The findings showed that the rupee drawing arrangement (RDA) was the most popular channel of remittances, accounting for 75.2 percent of remittances, followed by SWIFT (19.5 percent), direct transfers (3.4 percent) and cheques and drafts (1.9 percent). RBI said the cost to the remitter for sending remittances through RDA is relatively low in the case of private /foreign banks. The cost of receiving remittances through the RDA route is lowest in the case of public sector banks, the survey showed.