Realizing the importance of Overseas Indians in India, the Government of India has been undertaking a number of steps to bring them back to India, redress their grievances, provide them with more investment opportunities and facilities, etc. In India, the main authority for dealing with matters of Overseas Indians (OIs), comprising Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), is the 'Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA). The 'Overseas Indian Facilitation Center (OIFC)' has also been set up the Ministry in public-private partnership with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The Center acts as ‘one- stop shop’ for serving the interests of the Indians located abroad. Besides, there is 'Ministry of Finance' which deals with financial aspects relating to overseas Indians. The Indian Investment Centre is an autonomous body functioning under the Ministry of Finance, promoting foreign private investment including investments by NRIs, PIOs and Overseas Corporate Bodies.
In India, the most important law regulating all foreign exchange transactions including investments abroad is the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA),1999. There is the 'Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy', which governs the various aspects of foreign investment in India. This policy aims to attract FDI, in all the permitted sectors of Indian economy, both by foreign and overseas investors. There are mainly two routes permissible for foreign investments, such as, the Automatic route and the Government route. NRIs/PIOs are also permitted to open bank accounts in India out of funds remitted from abroad, foreign exchange brought in from abroad or out of funds legitimately due to them in India.
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