Kerala, Maha, K'taka & TN get 60% of total remittance in FY17

Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu together received close to 60 per cent of the total remittances in the country in financial year 2016-17, according to a RBI survey.

Of the total remittances into the country in 2016-17, 74.2 per cent was routed through private sector banks, while the share of public sector banks stood at 17.3 per cent. Foreign banks accounted for 8.5 per cent of the total remittance, according to RBI's 'Inward Remittances Survey'.

"Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu together received 58.7 per cent of total remittances in 2016-17," it said.

The findings is based on the responses from 42 major authorised dealers (ADs), accounting for 98.3 per cent of total remittances in 2016-17.

Nearly 82 per cent of the total remittances received by the country originated from eight countries - the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, the United Kingdom and Malaysia.

In the reporting year, 70.3 per cent of all reported transactions were of more than USD 500 and only 2.7 per cent were of less than USD 200, the survey showed.

More than 50 per cent of remittances received by Indian residents were used for family maintenance such as consumption (59.2 per cent), followed by deposits in banks (20 per cent) and investments in landed property and shares (8.3 per cent).

The findings showed that the rupee drawing arrangement (RDA) was the most popular channel of remittances, accounting for 75.2 per cent of remittances, followed by SWIFT (19.5 per cent), direct transfers (3.4 per cent) and cheques and drafts (1.9 per cent).

RBI said cost to the remitter for sending remittances through RDA is relatively low in the case of private /foreign banks.

The cost of receiving remittances through the RDA route is lowest in the case of public sector banks, the survey showed.