Published On: 25 June 2026

One of the first questions overseas buyers ask is simple: can OCI buy property in India at all? The short answer is yes — Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) can freely purchase residential and commercial property without seeking prior approval from the Reserve Bank of India. There are, however, firm limits on the kind of land you may own and on how the money must move. This guide explains who OCI and PIO holders are, what the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) permits, and how those rules apply to buying a home such as a unit at Godrej Brooklyn Avenue in Kukatpally, west Hyderabad. Rules here are stated as of 2026 — always verify the current RBI and FEMA provisions before you transact.

Who Is an OCI, and What Happened to the PIO Card?

An Overseas Citizen of India is a foreign national of Indian origin (or married to one) who holds a lifelong OCI card granting visa-free travel and broad residency, work and financial rights in India — short of voting, holding constitutional office or buying farmland. The older Person of Indian Origin (PIO) card scheme was merged into the OCI scheme in 2015, so PIO cards were phased out and existing holders were asked to convert to OCI. For property purposes the two categories are now treated alike: wherever the rules mention OCI, they cover former PIO holders too. An NRI, by contrast, is an Indian citizen residing abroad — they hold an Indian passport, while OCI holders carry a foreign passport plus the OCI card.

What FEMA Allows OCIs and NRIs to Buy

Under FEMA and the related RBI regulations, NRIs and OCIs may acquire any number of residential and commercial properties in India on the same footing as resident citizens, and no special RBI permission is needed for the purchase. What they may not buy is agricultural land, plantation property or a farmhouse. Those categories are reserved, and an OCI or NRI can come to own such land only through inheritance from a resident, or with specific prior approval from the RBI — which is rarely granted. Foreign nationals who are neither NRI nor OCI generally cannot buy immovable property in India at all, except by inheritance, or in limited cases if they are resident in India for more than 182 days in a financial year and satisfy the applicable conditions.

What OCI / PIO CAN vs CANNOT Buy

Type of property	OCI / PIO / NRI position under FEMA
Residential property (apartments, villas)	Allowed freely — no RBI approval, no cap on number
Commercial property (offices, shops)	Allowed freely — no RBI approval needed
Agricultural land	Not allowed by purchase — only by inheritance or special RBI approval
Plantation property	Not allowed by purchase — same restriction as farmland
Farmhouse	Not allowed by purchase — only by inheritance or RBI permission
Foreign national (not OCI/NRI)	Generally barred — only by inheritance or as a long-stay resident, subject to rules

How the Payment Must Be Made

FEMA is strict about the money trail. Payment for the property must flow through normal banking channels — either by inward remittance from abroad, or from the buyer's NRE, NRO or FCNR account held with an Indian bank. You cannot pay in foreign currency, in travellers' cheques, or in cash carried into the country. Keeping the source of funds clean and documented matters not only for compliance but for the later stage of taking money back out: repatriation of sale proceeds is tied to how the purchase was originally funded. Our note on repatriation of sale proceeds for NRIs explains those limits in detail, and many buyers finance the balance through an NRI home loan in India repaid through the same accounts.

Number of Properties, Joint Ownership and Gifting

There is no ceiling on how many residential or commercial units an OCI or NRI may own — you can build a portfolio of apartments if you wish. Joint ownership is permitted, typically with another NRI or OCI; a resident Indian relative can usually be added as a co-owner subject to the prevailing rules. An OCI or NRI may also receive residential or commercial property as a gift from a resident, NRI or OCI relative, and may inherit any kind of property — including agricultural land — from a person who held it lawfully. Gifting and inheritance are the only routes by which farmland can come into OCI/NRI hands, and even then a sale of inherited farmland may require it to pass to a resident buyer.

Documents and Power of Attorney

The paperwork for an OCI or NRI buyer is straightforward. You will generally need a valid passport, your OCI card (or proof of Indian origin for former PIO holders), an Indian PAN card for the transaction and any tax filing, and overseas address proof. Because most buyers cannot be physically present in India for registration, a Power of Attorney executed in favour of a trusted resident relative is the usual mechanism for signing and registering documents remotely; it must be drafted carefully and attested at the Indian mission abroad. Our step-by-step guide on buying property via Power of Attorney walks through how to do this correctly.

Buying at Godrej Brooklyn Avenue as an OCI or NRI

A residential apartment is exactly the category FEMA leaves open to OCI and NRI buyers, so a home at Godrej Brooklyn Avenue is a clean, eligible purchase. The project is registered with RERA Telangana under number P02200010981, sits near JNTU College Metro Station on the operational Red Line in Kukatpally, and starts at around Rs 2.10 Cr — with HITEC City and Gachibowli roughly 10–14 km away. Paying through an NRE or NRO account, registering via a Power of Attorney if needed, and keeping the funding trail documented covers the FEMA requirements. For the wider process, read our NRI guide to buying property in Hyderabad, and always confirm the current RBI and FEMA rules before you commit.

Frequently Asked Questions