According to reports from the Press Trust of India (PTI), Indians are spending almost one billion dollars per month on overseas trips. This is a substantial increase compared to pre-pandemic periods. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made this disclosure.
According to the RBI statistics, in the first nine months of FY 2022-23, Indian residents made a total of USD 9.95 billion in outward remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), supposedly for ‘travel’. For the 2021-22 financial year, expenditure on travel has been estimated at $4.16 billion, a significant decrease from the amount spent in 2019-20 which was $5.4 billion due to the global pandemic.
As per the directions of the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, individuals having residence in India are eligible to remit up to a maximum of $2,50,000 (or its equivalent) in a fiscal year for investments or spending purposes. Additionally they are allowed to open or maintain foreign currency accounts outside India to perform related transactions.
The RBI data shows that, due to the pandemic, expenditure on overseas travel has significantly dropped to $3.23 billion in 2020-21. This is a stark contrast to the figures of $6.95 billion and $4.8 billion in 2019-20 and 2018-19, respectively that were spent on outward remittances towards travel.
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Akash Dahiya, co-founder of SanKash, stated in a recent news report that the travel industry is having a major surge of international hotspots due to the increased availability of low-cost travel and breakthroughs in technology. An overwhelming majority of our customers are looking to explore foreign destinations these days. Places like Europe, Bali, Vietnam and Dubai have seen an increased demand from Indian travellers.
