SEZ units can open forex accounts

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India has permitted units located in special economic zones to maintain foreign currency accounts with authorised dealers.
The central bank has however said that all foreign exchange funds received by the unit in the SEZ will have to be credited to such accounts. Also, no foreign exchange purchased in India against rupees can be credited to the account without prior permission of RBI. It has said that the funds held in the account can be used only for bonafide trade transactions of the unit in the SEZ.
RBI has been constantly reviewing its policies relating to foreign exchange management so as to simplify procedures and give more operational flexibility to banks. A comfortable foreign exchange reserves position, which presently stands at $62.7bn, has encouraged RBI to progressively make relaxations on the foreign exchange liberalisation front.
At one level, RBI increased basic travel quotas (BTQ) for overseas travellers. For the individual traveller, BTQ has been raised to $5,000 from $500 about 10 years ago while for the business traveller it has been set at $25,000 per trip. And at another, it permitted Indian companies to invest up to $100m in overseas JVs or wholly-owned subsidiaries through the automatic route. Earlier this year, it also allowed MFs to invest in foreign equities. And more recently, it permitted NRIs to repatriate funds out of their non-resident ordinary rupee accounts.