NRI Plot Purchase in Hyderabad: A 2026 Guide to FEMA Rules, Payment, Power of Attorney and TDS
You are in Dubai, Dallas or Sydney, your family has found a plot near Hyderabad, and someone is asking you to send an advance over WhatsApp tonight. Distance makes every step harder: you cannot walk the boundary, sit across from the seller or queue at the sub-registrar office. This guide to NRI plot purchase in Hyderabad sets out what the rules allow in 2026, how to pay and sign from abroad, and how to check a plot properly before a rupee leaves your account.
NRI plot purchase in Hyderabad in short
Key takeaways
- ✓NRIs and OCIs may buy a plot in India, but not agricultural land, a plantation or a farm house (RBI Master Direction on immovable property, updated 1 September 2022).
- ✓Pay by inward remittance or from an NRE, FCNR(B) or NRO account, never in cash, travellers’ cheques or foreign currency notes.
- ✓A power of attorney signed abroad must be authenticated by a notary or an Indian consul and stamped within three months of first reaching India.
- ✓Buying from a resident seller at ₹50 lakh or more, deduct 1% TDS. Buying from a non-resident seller, TDS applies at capital gains rates with no threshold.
- ✓Plan around your next trip home: run the checks before you fly, and you can walk the plot and register in person.
Can an NRI or OCI buy a plot in Hyderabad?
Yes. RBI’s Master Direction on acquisition of immovable property says an NRI or an OCI “can acquire by way of purchase any immovable property (other than agricultural land/ plantation property/ farm house) in India”. An NRI is an Indian citizen resident outside India. An OCI is a person resident outside India who holds an Overseas Citizen of India card. Neither needs RBI’s permission to buy a residential plot.
| What you want to do | NRI or OCI allowed? | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Buy a residential plot in an approved layout | Yes | Pay through banking channels |
| Buy agricultural land, a plantation or a farm house | No | Not by purchase |
| Receive a non-agricultural plot as a gift | Yes | From a resident, or from an NRI or OCI who is a relative |
| Inherit any property | Yes | From a resident, or from someone who acquired it lawfully |
| Buy jointly with a foreign-national spouse | Yes, one property | Marriage registered and subsisting for at least two years |
The farm house rule matters near Hyderabad, where “farm plots” are widely advertised. Farm land is agricultural, so an NRI cannot buy it. Telangana also does not register farm plots below 2,000 sq m, under a July 2021 government memo. If a seller offers you a small farm plot “with a clubhouse”, walk away.
How to pay: NRE, NRO and FCNR(B)
RBI allows payment “by way of inward remittance from any place outside India or by debit to their NRE/ FCNR (B)/ NRO account”, as its FAQ on buying immovable property also explains. Travellers’ cheques and foreign currency notes are not allowed. Which account you use matters later, if you ever sell.
| Pay from | Repatriation of sale proceeds later |
|---|---|
| Fresh inward remittance through a bank | Allowed for up to two residential properties, on the conditions in RBI’s direction |
| NRE or FCNR(B) account | Allowed on the same basis |
| NRO account | Does not meet that condition, so plan for other remittance routes |
Pay every instalment to the seller’s bank account, keep the remittance advice, and ask the seller for receipts that name the plot number and survey number.
If you need a loan, some lenders do lend to non-residents. HDFC Bank’s NRI plot loan page covers NRIs, PIOs and OCIs for plots bought by direct allotment or resale, with funding up to 80% that “may be restricted up to 70%” outside city limits. SBI’s Combo Home Loan for plot plus construction lists non-resident Indians as eligible, while its plot-only Realty loan lists resident Indians. Our plot loan guide explains the RBI limits.
Buying from abroad, step by step
Most NRI purchases follow the same order. The safest buyers finish the checks before they sign anything.
- Shortlist remotely. Ask for the layout permission (LP) number, the TG-RERA registration and the survey number before any visit.
- Check the papers. Run the checks in the list below, and have an advocate in Hyderabad read the title.
- See the plot on a live video visit. Ask for the boundary stones, the approach road and the plot number on the layout board.
- Sign an agreement. Pay the advance from your NRE, FCNR(B) or NRO account to the seller’s bank account.
- Appoint an attorney if you cannot travel. Execute a specific power of attorney abroad and send it home.
- Register the sale deed. You or your attorney attend the sub-registrar office on the booked slot.
- Deposit the TDS and keep the records. Then update the local body records in your name.
Power of attorney: signing from another country
If you cannot be in Hyderabad on the registration day, a trusted relative can act for you under a power of attorney. Two laws decide whether it will be accepted.
- Authentication abroad. Section 33 of the Registration Act, 1908 recognises a power of attorney executed by someone living outside India when it is executed before and authenticated by a notary public, a court, judge or magistrate, an Indian consul or vice-consul, or a representative of the Central Government.
- Stamping within three months. Section 18 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 lets a document signed outside India be stamped within three months after it is first received in India. Miss that window and a registrar may reject it. In a 2022 case, the Andhra Pradesh High Court set aside such a rejection and held that the document can be impounded and validated once the duty and a penalty are paid (LiveLaw, 1 April 2022). Either way, a late power of attorney costs you a penalty and time.
Keep the power of attorney specific: name the plot, the survey number, the layout and the acts allowed, such as signing and presenting the sale deed. We could not find a Telangana department page setting out which office stamps a power of attorney from abroad, so have your advocate present it promptly and confirm the office with the sub-registrar. Remember, too, that Telangana allows four months from signing to present a sale deed for registration.
TDS when an NRI buys a plot
The Income-tax Act, 2025 replaced the 1961 Act from 1 April 2026, and the tax deducted at source on property now sits in its Section 393. Who deducts, and how much, depends on the seller.
| Seller | When TDS applies | Rate | TAN needed? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resident, such as a local landowner or a layout firm | Price or stamp duty value of ₹50 lakh or more | 1% | No; deposited with your PAN |
| Non-resident Indian | Any amount, with no threshold | Capital gains rates; long-term gains at 12.5% plus surcharge and cess | From 1 October 2026, not for resident individual or HUF buyers |
The 1 October 2026 change came from the Union Budget 2026-27 memorandum: resident individual and HUF buyers can now report TDS on a purchase from a non-resident with their PAN instead of a TAN. The relief is written for resident buyers, so if you are a non-resident buying from another non-resident, expect to need a TAN. A non-resident seller can apply under Section 395 for a certificate of lower or nil deduction, and the buyer then deducts at that rate. Have a chartered accountant work out the figure before the registration day, and file through the Income Tax e-filing portal.
Buying from abroad and unsure what to check first? Send us the layout name and survey number and we will tell you which records to pull and what they show, free.
A remote due diligence checklist
You can do most of the checking from another country. Work through this list before you pay an advance:
- TG-RERA registration. Search the project and promoter names on rera.telangana.gov.in.
- Layout permission. Ask for the LP number and confirm it with the authority for that village: HMDA, FCDA or DTCP. Our verification checklist shows how.
- Title chain. Get the link documents and a 30-year encumbrance certificate, and have an advocate read them. Our list of clear title documents explains each, and our guide to the encumbrance certificate online shows how to pull one.
- Prohibited property check and market value. Both are on the Registration and Stamps Department portal.
- Revenue record. Check the survey number and mandal on Bhu Bharati, which replaced Dharani in 2025; our Bhu Bharati guide walks through it. The Kandukur area page shows which authority covers each village.
- The commute claim. Ask for measured drive times with a date, like those in the corridor section below.
- The live video visit. See the boundary stones, the approach road and the neighbouring plots in real time, not in a recorded clip.
What putting it off costs when you buy from abroad
Distance stretches every step, so timing costs NRI buyers more than most. These are the real clocks, and none of them is about prices.
- The power of attorney clock. The three-month stamping window starts when the document first reaches India. Book the notary or consulate appointment early, but send the power of attorney home only when your attorney is ready to stamp and use it.
- A trip home is your best visit. If you will be in Hyderabad anyway, finish the remote checks before you fly. You can then walk the plot yourself and, if the deal is ready, sign and register in person: slots have been bookable online at all 144 sub-registrar offices since 2 June 2025, and a signed deed must be presented within four months. Start the checks after you land, and you may fly back with nothing signed.
- Registration follows the value on the registration date. Market values were revised in 2021 and 2022 and statewide from 5 June 2026. No next revision is announced, but a deed registered after any revision is charged on the new value.
- Choice narrows as plots are booked. East-facing, corner and park-facing plots are usually chosen first in any layout, and weekend visit slots, the ones families on the ground can manage, need booking ahead.
Illustrative: Lakshmi, a nurse in Melbourne, meant to “decide on the next trip” three years running. Each trip lasted two weeks, and each time the checks began after she landed. Her father, who wanted to see the house built, kept asking when. On the fourth trip she ran the papers from Melbourne first, walked the plot on day two and registered on day nine.
Flying home soon? Message us on WhatsApp with your travel dates, and we will plan the checks and a site visit around them, free.
What is changing around the south Hyderabad plot belt (status as of October 2026)
From abroad, the hardest thing to judge is what is really happening near a plot. Here is the dated status of the projects named most often in this belt.
| Project | What it is | Status | Date / source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bharat Future City and FCDA | Planning authority, 56 villages | Operational; master plan in preparation | G.O.Ms.No.69, 12 March 2025; plan due at the 7 to 9 December 2026 summit (Deccan Chronicle, 13 October 2026) |
| Young India Skills University, Meerkhanpet | Permanent campus | Under construction | Chief Minister’s review, 19 October 2026 |
| Ratan Tata Greenfield Radial Road | 41.5 km, 100 m corridor, ORR Exit 13 to Amangal | Under construction | HMDA target May 2028 (Swarajya, 9 September 2026) |
| AWS data centre | Campus in Bharat Future City | Under construction | Foundation stone 15 July 2026 |
| TCS HyperVault AI data centre | Up to 1 GW, 264 acres | Announced | 5 September 2026 (The News Minute) |
| Airport to Future City metro | 39.6 km line | Proposed; awaiting central approval | Swarajya, 7 May 2026 |
| Regional Ring Road, northern part | 161.5 km, Sangareddy to Choutuppal | Announced; not under construction | Deccan Chronicle, 9 October 2026 |
| Regional Ring Road, southern part | 201 km, via Amangal | Proposed; no central decision | Deccan Chronicle, 24 September 2026 |
| RGI Airport expansion | New terminal and second runway | Announced (operator plan) | Reported 24 August 2026 |
| E-City and Fab City, Raviryal | Electronics and industrial parks | Operational | Units operating, July 2026 |
For a family buying from abroad, the useful reading is about daily life. The airport, the ORR and NH-765 are built and work today, and the jobs operating now are at E-City, Fab City and nearby industrial parks. The Future City projects will take years to fill, so if you plan to build soon, expect to rely on Kandukur, Maheshwaram town or the city for schools, hospitals and shopping at first. If you plan to return later, use the table as a list of what to check on each visit.
From Araddhya Future City at Mohammadnagar, RGI Airport measured 32 minutes (23.5 km) and Mucherla 16 minutes; from Sai Krishna Vrinda at Pulimamidi, the airport measured 36 minutes (23.9 km) and Mucherla 24 minutes, on Google Maps on 14 September 2026. Our Future City development tracker and guide to the southern growth corridors are dated, which helps when you follow the area from abroad.
What this means if you are buying a plot
Here is an illustrative scenario. Kiran, a software engineer in Dallas, wanted a plot near Hyderabad for the house he plans to build when his parents need him close. He began with recorded videos and a “farm plot” offer. He switched to an HMDA-approved layout, checked the TG-RERA entry himself and joined a live video visit at 9 pm his time, early the next morning in Hyderabad. His brother walked the boundary with the camera, asked the questions Kiran typed into the chat, and later registered the deed under a specific power of attorney. The relief was simple: nothing happened that Kiran had not seen.
That is the visit we offer. Both ventures we show have a 360° tour and a drone walkthrough on their project pages, and both list an HMDA layout permission: Araddhya Future City at Mohammadnagar, Kandukur, 6.5 acres with 76 plots, and Sai Krishna Vrinda at Pulimamidi, near Maheshwaram, 4 acres with 63 plots. Our Pulimamidi area page explains why Pulimamidi sits in Kandukur mandal, and our Kandukur vs Maheshwaram comparison sets the two villages side by side.
Cannot fly in yet? Take the 360° virtual tour of both ventures first, then book a live video walk with our team on the ground.
Your next step from abroad
- Note your next trip home and plan the checks backwards from it.
- Ask for the LP number, the TG-RERA registration and the survey number.
- Run the remote checks above and brief an advocate in Hyderabad.
- Decide whether you will register in person or through a specific power of attorney.
- Ask a chartered accountant to work out the TDS before the registration day.
This guide is general information, not legal, tax or foreign exchange advice. FEMA rules, tax provisions and registration practice change. Confirm your case with your bank’s foreign exchange desk, a chartered accountant and an advocate in Hyderabad before you pay or sign.
Buying from far away is an act of trust in the people on the ground. The relief comes when every paper you were promised is in your inbox and every boundary stone you were told about has been on your screen, so that the first time you stand on the plot, it already feels like home.
Plan your next step
Buying from abroad and need eyes on the ground? Araddhya Realty is a TG-RERA registered agent (A02500007890). Book a live video site visit at a time we agree for your time zone: we will walk the plot, the boundary and the approach road with you on camera, and send the layout and title papers for your own advocate to check. Book a video site visit. Prefer WhatsApp? Message us on WhatsApp.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Under RBI’s Master Direction on immovable property, an NRI or OCI may buy any immovable property in India other than agricultural land, a plantation or a farm house. A residential plot in an approved layout qualifies, provided payment comes through banking channels and applicable taxes are paid.
Yes. RBI treats OCI cardholders like NRIs for buying non-agricultural property, including residential plots. The restriction on citizens of certain countries, such as Pakistan, China and Bangladesh, does not apply to an OCI. Agricultural land, plantations and farm houses remain off limits by purchase.
No. Farm plots are agricultural land, which NRIs and OCIs cannot buy under FEMA rules. Telangana also does not register farm plots below 2,000 sq m under a July 2021 memo. NRIs can inherit agricultural land, but purchase is not permitted.
RBI allows inward remittance or a debit to an NRE, FCNR(B) or NRO account. If you may want to take the sale proceeds abroad later, pay through fresh remittances or from an NRE or FCNR(B) account, since repatriation depends on the purchase being paid in foreign exchange.
Yes. Section 18 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 allows a document executed outside India to be stamped within three months of first reaching India. It should also be authenticated abroad by a notary public or an Indian consul, as Section 33 of the Registration Act, 1908 requires. A late one can attract a penalty.
From a resident seller, 1% when the price or stamp duty value is ₹50 lakh or more. From a non-resident seller, TDS applies at capital gains rates on any amount, with long-term gains at 12.5% plus surcharge and cess, unless the seller holds a lower deduction certificate.
Yes. Araddhya Realty offers live video site visits for NRI buyers, alongside the 360° tours and drone walkthroughs on its project pages. Ask to see the boundary stones, the approach road and the plot number on the layout board in real time before you pay an advance.
Only if you want to sign in person, and even then start early. Run the TG-RERA, layout permission, encumbrance and Bhu Bharati checks from abroad first, so you can walk the plot on the trip and register yourself on a booked slot. If you use a power of attorney instead, remember it must be stamped within three months of reaching India.
Sources. RBI: Master Direction No. 12/2015-16 on immovable property under FEMA, updated 1 September 2022; FAQ on purchase of immovable property, updated 6 April 2023, read 17 October 2026 · Registration Act, 1908, section 33; Indian Stamp Act, 1899, section 18 · LiveLaw: Andhra Pradesh High Court on a power of attorney executed abroad, 1 April 2022, read 22 October 2026 · Union Budget 2026-27: Budget speech, paragraph 110, and memorandum, February 2026 · Business Today: TAN rule change, 28 August 2026 · HDFC Bank NRI plot loans and SBI Combo, read 17 October 2026 · Telangana Registration and Stamps Department; slot booking at 144 offices, 2 June 2025; MA&UD memo of 9 July 2021, as cited in our earlier guides · Deccan Chronicle: master plan and summit, 13 October 2026; Skills University review, 19 October 2026; RRR north, 9 October 2026; RRR south, 24 September 2026 · Swarajya: Ratan Tata Road, 9 September 2026; metro, 7 May 2026 · The News Minute: AWS, 16 July 2026; TCS HyperVault, 6 September 2026 · Business Standard, airport expansion, 24 August 2026 · The Hans India, E-City, 28 July 2026 · Google Maps, 14 September 2026 · Project pages and virtual tour, read 22 October 2026.
This article is general information, not investment or legal advice. Figures are dated and change often. Verify approvals and project registration yourself at rera.telangana.gov.in and with the issuing planning authority before any purchase.
Useful next reads. the ten checks before you pay; how the southern corridors compare; which approval applies where; how to test a brochure claim; areas we cover; buyer questions answered; all our guides.
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