What NRIs and OCI holders can and cannot buy in Punjab

Can an NRI or OCI holder buy agricultural land in Punjab?

No. Under India's FEMA non-debt instrument rules, an NRI or OCI card holder cannot purchase agricultural land, a farmhouse or plantation property anywhere in India, including Punjab. Residential and commercial property is allowed. The restriction holds whatever the price and whatever the seller assures you, and Punjab Roots Realty will say so before you shortlist a parcel that falls in that category.

The rule sits in the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019, which replaced the earlier FEMA 21 regulations on immovable property. It restricts buying, not owning. A no-objection letter from a tehsildar does not change it, and neither does an unregistered agreement to sell. Funding the purchase while a resident relative's name goes on the deed does not cure it either, and on the facts it can amount to a benami arrangement under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988, as amended in 2016.

Where a specific proposal is put forward, it is the Reserve Bank of India that considers it, in consultation with the Government of India, and such approvals are rare. If someone in the Malwa belt tells you the rule is routinely worked around, treat that as a reason to walk away rather than a reason to proceed. Confirm your own position with a lawyer or chartered accountant before you commit money.

What can an NRI buy in Punjab without RBI permission?

An NRI or OCI holder can buy residential and commercial property in Punjab without Reserve Bank of India permission. That covers plots in an approved colony, flats, showrooms, SCOs, office space and commercial or industrial land. The rules do not cap how many such properties you hold, and no special FEMA filing is prescribed for an ordinary purchase. Your tax position is a separate question, so put it to a chartered accountant.

In the corridors Punjab Roots Realty works in, that translates into these ticket sizes. Prices are as quoted in September 2026 and move with the market, so ask us for the current number before you plan around any of them:

Payment is made in Indian rupees, from an NRE, NRO or FCNR account or by inward remittance through normal banking channels, and goes directly to the developer or seller account. Foreign currency notes and travellers cheques are not an accepted mode of payment. Punjab Roots Realty does not receive buyer funds into its own account.

• A 200 to 300 sq yd (gaj) plot in a PUDA approved colony on the Mansa-Barnala Road in Mansa, from about Rs 55 lakh all inclusive.
• Residential plots of 191 to 500 sq yd on the Bathinda-Muktsar Road, off NH-7, at a base price of around Rs 25,000 per sq yd, so a 10 marla plot of about 302 sq yd works out near Rs 75 lakh before registry and other charges.
• A 3 BHK apartment in the Kharar to Banur belt, from about Rs 1.25 Cr.
• A retail showroom on the Bathinda Ring Road (NH-7), from about Rs 1 Cr.
• A 6.15 acre highway-front parcel on NH-05, on the Ludhiana to Chandigarh stretch, suited to warehousing or a commercial campus. It is open to an overseas buyer only once the revenue classification and the change of land use are confirmed in writing.

Why does so much Punjab land turn out to be agricultural?

Because the marketing description and the revenue record often disagree. A parcel advertised as highway land or commercial land near Bathinda, Mansa or Kharar is frequently still recorded as agricultural in the jamabandi, with no change of land use granted. The revenue entry decides whether an NRI can buy, not the brochure.

Most land in the Malwa belt starts as khet, measured in killa and marked by khasra numbers. It becomes buildable through a sequence: the owner or developer applies for change of land use (CLU) under the Punjab regional and town planning framework, the colony layout is approved by PUDA, its regional authority or the local body, and only then are plots sold as residential or commercial. Until that sequence is complete, the parcel is still agricultural land in law.

This is why an approval matters more to an overseas buyer than to a local one. A plot inside a PUDA approved colony on the Mansa-Barnala Road is not agricultural land for FEMA purposes, so an NRI can buy it. Five killa of the same soil a kilometre away, still recorded as agricultural, is off the table at any price.

What about agricultural land an NRI inherits in Punjab?

Inheritance is treated separately from purchase. An NRI or OCI holder can inherit agricultural land, a farmhouse or plantation property from a person resident in India, so family killas near the pind can pass by succession or under a will. The restriction applies to buying more, not to holding what you inherit.

Two practical points follow. First, gift is not the same as inheritance: agricultural land generally cannot be acquired by an NRI as a gift, even from a parent, while a residential or commercial property can be. Second, inherited agricultural land can generally only be transferred onward to a person resident in India who is a citizen of India, not to another NRI or OCI holder, which narrows the buyer pool for the eventual sale.

Selling brings tax and remittance questions with it. An NRI seller faces tax deducted at source by the buyer, a capital gains computation, and limits and bank documentation on repatriating the proceeds. The applicable rates and thresholds change with each Finance Act, so do not budget from a figure found on a forum. Get the numbers from a chartered accountant who handles NRI cases.

Is an OCI card holder treated the same as an NRI?

Broadly yes. For immovable property, the non-debt instrument rules place an OCI card holder on the same footing as an NRI: residential and commercial permitted, agricultural land, farmhouse and plantation property not permitted. The difference matters for a foreign citizen who holds no OCI card, who needs prior Reserve Bank of India approval instead for anything beyond a short lease.

A common situation is one spouse holding an Indian passport or an OCI card while the other has taken foreign citizenship without applying for OCI. Adding the second name as a joint owner changes the legal position of the whole purchase. Settle the ownership names before the allotment letter is issued, because a change afterwards can mean a fresh allotment and a transfer charge, depending on the developer's policy.

Separately, the rules require prior permission of the Reserve Bank of India before a citizen of certain countries, among them Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, China, Iran, Nepal, Bhutan, Macau, Hong Kong and North Korea, acquires or transfers immovable property in India, wherever that person lives. A lease not exceeding five years sits outside the restriction. If any buyer on your side of the transaction falls into that group, take legal advice before signing anything.

How do you check the classification before you pay?

Ask for the khasra or khewat number and pull the jamabandi entry from the Punjab Land Records Society portal before any booking amount moves. For a project, ask for the layout approval and the RERA registration number, then check the number on the Punjab RERA portal yourself.

The document set worth insisting on:

Portal addresses, fee structures and rules change, and a registration or approval status can lapse or be revised. Verify the current position on the official portals at the time of your purchase rather than relying on a status quoted in any guide, this one included.

• The jamabandi and khasra girdawari showing the current classification of the land.
• The change of land use (CLU) letter where raw land has been converted.
• The colony layout approval from PUDA, the relevant regional authority (GMADA in the Mohali, Kharar, Banur and Dera Bassi belt, BDA around Bathinda) or the municipal body, quoted with its reference number.
• The RERA registration number where the project is registered. Pushpa Square on the Bathinda Ring Road, for example, is listed with PBRERA-BTI08-PC0390, which you should confirm on the portal yourself.
• Mutation entries and the title chain, ideally for the last 30 years.
• Any clearance needed where the land sits in a controlled area alongside a national highway.

What Punjab Roots Realty will and will not sell to an overseas buyer

Punjab Roots Realty sells developer-direct residential and commercial inventory in Bathinda, Mansa, Patiala, Kharar, Mohali, Dera Bassi and Banur, and does not put an overseas buyer into a parcel that is agricultural in the revenue record. Where a parcel's classification is not confirmed in writing, we say so before you shortlist it.

For most of what we sell, you can complete the purchase without flying in. A power of attorney executed abroad and attested at your nearest Indian mission, or apostilled where that route applies, lets a family member or our team act for you. It then has to be stamped in India, generally within three months of reaching the country, and for an immovable property transaction the sub-registrar may require it to be registered. Settle the wording and the stamping route with a lawyer in India before you send the document. Payments go straight to the developer's account, every document check is sent to you in writing before any money moves, and the registered papers are couriered to you afterwards.

This page is general guidance, not legal or tax advice. Rules under FEMA and Indian tax law change; please verify with a qualified professional before you transact. Updated September 2026.