A foreign company that wins a contract in India, invests in an Indian company or trades with Indian counterparties will receive and pay rupees. The Special Non-Resident Rupee (SNRR) account is the FEMA instrument for doing that without an Indian entity, and without converting currency on every transaction. It has existed for years in a narrow form. RBI widened it in January 2025 and much further on 18 June 2026, and it is now the general rupee account for any non-resident dealing with India.
SNRR stands for Special Non-Resident Rupee. An SNRR account is an Indian-rupee account that any person resident outside India may open with an authorised dealer bank in India, or with its branch outside India, including a branch in an International Financial Services Centre, under Schedule 4 of the Foreign Exchange Management (Deposit) Regulations, 2016. Until 18 June 2026 the holder needed a business interest in India and the account had to be named for that business; both conditions are gone.
Who can open one
Since 18 June 2026, any person resident outside India. The account is used most by:
- foreign companies with trade or investment activity in India;
- overseas investors routing foreign direct investment, external commercial borrowings or portfolio investment;
- foreign individuals and professionals with service contracts in India;
- unincorporated joint ventures of foreign entities with Indian partners, for infrastructure and EPC contracts among others;
- units in an International Financial Services Centre, for their transactions outside the IFSC, and since June 2026 through bank branches in an IFSC as well;
- overseas exporters and importers dealing with Indian counterparties.
There is no minimum investment or turnover, and no requirement for an Indian subsidiary, branch or liaison office.
What changed in June 2026
The Foreign Exchange Management (Deposit) (Sixth Amendment) Regulations, 2026, notified by RBI on 18 June 2026 (Notification FEMA 5(R)(6)/2026-RB), rewrote the account.
| Before | After the Sixth Amendment (18 June 2026) |
|---|
| Only a non-resident with a business interest in India could open one | Any person resident outside India may open one (Regulation 5(4)) |
| An AD bank in India or its branch outside India | Also a branch in an International Financial Services Centre in India |
| Account named for one business, debits and credits tied to it, balance kept in line with it, tenure running with it | Those conditions deleted (paragraphs 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8 of Schedule 4) |
| Transfers from an NRO account into an SNRR account not permitted | Permitted under Schedule 3, within the limit in Regulation 4 of the Remittance of Assets Regulations, 2016 |
| No rule on payments between two non-residents | The bank puts them through on the holder's mandate, which states the purpose (new paragraph 16) |
What did not change: the account still earns no interest, balances in India are still repatriable, it still may not be used to make foreign exchange available to a person resident in India, and its transactions are still subject to Indian taxes.
What changed in January 2025
The Fifth Amendment of 14 January 2025 was the first widening. Several of its limits were removed again in June 2026, above.
| Before | After the Fifth Amendment (14 January 2025) |
|---|
| Opened only with an AD bank in India | May also be opened at the overseas branch of an Indian AD bank |
| Limited to specified business transactions | Available for all permissible current and capital account transactions |
| Tenure capped at seven years | No cap; the account runs with the business |
| Transfers only to or from resident accounts | Transfers between repatriable rupee accounts permitted for bona fide transactions |
| Scope of "business interest" unclear | Investment, trade, trade credit, ECBs and IFSC business expressly within scope |
What it can be used for
- Trade: receiving export proceeds from Indian buyers in rupees; paying Indian suppliers; settling trade credit.
- Capital account: routing FDI into Indian companies; receiving dividends, interest and redemption proceeds; funding and repaying ECBs; investing in Indian securities under the applicable schemes.
- Services and contracts: receiving payment for services rendered in India; receiving income-tax refunds; making operational payments on contracts performed in India.
- Joint ventures: the day-to-day receipts and payments of an unincorporated joint venture with an Indian partner.
- Other non-residents: bona fide rupee payments to and from other non-residents, which the bank puts through on a mandate stating their purpose.
The rules that bind
- No interest is paid on the balance (Schedule 4, paragraph 4).
- Balances held in India are repatriable (paragraph 9).
- The account may not be used to make foreign exchange available to a person resident in India, against rupees or otherwise (paragraph 3).
- Transactions in the account are subject to Indian taxes as applicable (paragraph 11).
- Money may come in from an NRO account only within the Remittance of Assets limit (paragraph 10, read with Schedule 3).
- The regulations set no minimum balance. If your bank sets one, it is the bank's own account term.
SNRR and NRO
| NRO account | SNRR account |
|---|
| Holder | Non-resident Indian or person of Indian origin | Any person resident outside India; no business-interest test since June 2026 |
| Purpose | Personal income in India: rent, salary, pension | Transactions with residents on current and capital account, and with other non-residents |
| Repatriation | Restricted, within the USD 1 million a year limit | Freely repatriable within FEMA |
| Tenure | Open-ended | No tenure condition since June 2026 |
| NRO to SNRR | Permitted since June 2026, within the Remittance of Assets limit |
A worked example
A European engineering company wins a rupee-denominated infrastructure contract from an Indian public-sector client, with Indian subcontractors to pay and net profit to repatriate. Without an SNRR account every receipt and payment is a currency conversion with correspondent charges, remittance documentation and timing risk. With an SNRR account opened at its bank's overseas branch, client payments are credited in rupees, subcontractors are paid in rupees from the same account, and the net balance is repatriated as the contract completes.
What to settle first
- What the account will carry: transactions with residents in India, payments with other non-residents, or both. Payments between non-residents go through on a mandate that states their purpose.
- Whether the activity creates a permanent establishment or other taxable presence in India; the SNRR account does not answer that question and does not change the answer.
- The bank: an AD bank in India, its branch abroad or its branch in an IFSC, and its documentation list.
- Reporting: the underlying transactions, FDI, ECB or trade, carry their own FEMA reporting, which the account does not replace.
