Zerodha’s Nithin Kamath on NRI investment in India: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is looking to make it easier for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to invest in Indian markets by proposing a fully digital onboarding process that would allow them to complete the process without being physically present in India.
The proposed changes could remove one of the biggest hurdles faced by NRIs, the requirement for physical documentation and the need to be in India for certain onboarding-related processes.
“I have spoken many times about the need to make it easier for NRIs to invest in India. Finally, some great news. SEBI just released a consultation paper proposing a fully digital onboarding process for NRIs, without needing them to be physically present in India!” Kamath said.
SEBI has been working on simplifying digital onboarding and KYC-related processes for NRI investors. The regulator had earlier proposed relaxing India’s geo-tagging requirements for NRIs undertaking re-KYC/KYC modification through digital onboarding and video-based client identification.
What is SEBI proposing for NRI investors?
The proposed framework seeks to make the account-opening process more digital and convenient for NRIs living outside India.
At present, NRIs can face additional paperwork and procedural requirements while opening investment accounts from overseas. According to Kamath, this has remained a major bottleneck even as other rules governing NRI investments have become simpler.
If the proposed changes are finalised, the onboarding process could become considerably faster.
NRI account opening could become much faster
He believes the proposed digital process could potentially reduce this timeline to one or two days.
“Something that would take 2-3 weeks or even months could be done within 1-2 days. That’s a big win,” Kamath said.
Zerodha has over 50,000 NRI investors
According to Kamath, Zerodha currently has more than 50,000 NRIs investing through its platform.
Interestingly, around 80 per cent of these NRI accounts are active, according to the company’s data shared by Kamath.
“At Zerodha, we have over 50,000 NRIs investing with us today. A stat that surprised me when we looked at our numbers, 80 per cent of them are active. That’s a ridiculous number,” he said.
Kamath has said NRI investors tend to invest more, take a longer-term approach and remain invested for longer compared with regular investors.
Why are NRIs important for Indian markets?
NRIs represent an important pool of overseas capital that can flow into Indian financial markets.
Kamath said NRIs tend to be durable investors, making them an important investor base for the country’s capital markets.
“NRIs tend to have large amounts of capital to invest and are a highly durable source of inflows into Indian markets,” Kamath said.
He added that reducing the friction involved in onboarding could help this investor base grow substantially.
SEBI has also been pursuing measures to simplify investor onboarding and reduce redundant documentation. In a December 2025 address, the regulator said it was looking at further simplifying retail client onboarding and easing requirements for NRI clients.
NRI investment rules have already become simpler
The proposed digital onboarding reform comes after several earlier changes aimed at making it easier for NRIs to invest in India.
Kamath has pointed out that NRIs no longer need the entire Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS) setup for many investments. According to him, many NRIs now invest through NRO Non-PIS accounts.
These accounts, he said, work broadly like resident accounts for several market activities and can provide access to intraday trading, BTST and futures and options, subject to applicable regulations and broker-specific requirements.
What could change for NRIs if SEBI proposal is approved?
If the proposals are implemented, NRIs could potentially benefit from:
- Digital account onboarding from their country of residence
- E-signatures without the need to travel to India
- Less physical documentation
- Reduced dependence on international courier services
- Faster account-opening timelines
- Easier access to Indian investment opportunities
Could easier NRI onboarding boost foreign money flows into India?
Kamath believes simplifying the process could significantly increase NRI participation in Indian markets.
“By removing all this friction, this investor base can easily be many times larger,” he said.
“Getting foreign money into India matters. It helps the investors, but it also helps the rupee and the larger India story. Anything that makes it easier for this money to come into India is worth doing,” Kamath said.
