Low cost mutual funds for an NRI

I need some guidance on getting started with investments in India. I am an NRI who will return to India in five years. I would like to start building a corpus, mainly for my retirement. I am overwhelmed on where to start. I have been investing in low cost, passively-managed index funds. But I couldn't find equivalents in India. Ideally, my asset allocation would be: 70 per cent stock/equity and 30 per cent fixed income. Please advise on how I can get started? Also, what low cost mutual funds you would recommend?
--Vishnu Muralidharan

Suresh Sadagopan, Founder, Ladder7 Financial Advisories, responds:

Index funds are slowly gaining traction in India. There are also a host of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on all the indices. There are also smart beta index funds that have now gained currency. So, things are looking up in India as well in the passive investment space. Five years is a long time. I expect the passive investment arena to become more evolved by then and offer more depth and options by that time.

It appears that the corpus that you may (have) accumulate would be substantial. It is in your best interest to consult a credible fee-only advisor, who can advice on how you could invest your assets in the best possible manner, considering your goals and retirement.