The Liberalised Remittance Scheme allows resident individuals to remit up to USD 250,000 per financial year for permissible capital and current account transactions. Almost all individual outbound investing through GIFT happens within this envelope.
LRS, ODI, Schedule III: three pathways to outbound
6 min · For educational purposes only
Outbound flows from India travel through one of three regulatory envelopes. Picking the right one is the difference between a clean structure and a compliance headache.
LRS — the retail pathway
ODI — the corporate pathway
Overseas Direct Investment is the route for Indian companies acquiring foreign entities or making strategic investments abroad. Family offices structured as LLPs or companies will often blend ODI with LRS for the principals.
Schedule III — the institutional pathway
Schedule III of FEMA's overseas investment rules covers permitted institutional flows — mutual funds, AIFs, insurance companies investing offshore. Most product manufacturers you'll encounter operate under this regime.
Key takeaways
- Individuals use LRS; companies use ODI; funds use Schedule III.
- TCS at 20% applies on LRS remittances above ₹10 lakh for investment purposes — claimable, not lost.
- Choosing the right pathway upfront avoids retroactive restructuring.