Do NRIs need RBI permission to buy in Dholera?

No prior permission for residential or commercial property under the general permission; the transaction simply must respect the payment-channel and property-type rules. Agricultural land remains excluded entirely.

Can two NRIs buy jointly?

Yes, joint NRI/OCI purchases are routine, and resident-Indian co-ownership structures are also common (with their own rule sets). Decide ownership shares at agreement stage; unwinding later is expensive.

Is an Aadhaar card required?

Aadhaar is not a precondition for an NRI's property purchase; PAN matters for the tax trail and registration processes use passport-grade identification. Your CA and the sub-registrar checklist settle specifics case by case.

NRI desk

The NRI buying guide

Evening view of the ABCD building in Dholera SIR — The ABCD building at dusk · Source: DSIRDA / DICDL (dholera.gujarat.gov.in)

Answer first: under FEMA's general permission, NRIs and OCIs may buy residential and commercial immovable property in India without prior RBI approval, paying through banking channels (NRE, NRO, FCNR); agricultural land, plantations and farmhouses are excluded. For Dholera that means: buy N.A. plots or sanctioned TP-scheme plots only, verify everything remotely through official portals, close in person or by consularised Power of Attorney, and keep every remittance documented for the day you sell or repatriate.

The diaspora is Dholera's most courted audience, and its most remotely located, which makes this the corridor where verification discipline earns the highest returns. The good news: the entire legal path is well-worn. Here it is end to end.

What you may and may not buy

Permitted without approval: residential and commercial property, any number of them. Not permitted: agricultural land, plantation property, farmhouses (inheritance is a separate matter). The Dholera translation is mechanical: a plot with N.A. status or a final plot in a sanctioned TP scheme sits on the permitted side; an agricultural survey number does not, and no seller's assurance changes that. This single test disqualifies a meaningful slice of what gets marketed to NRIs, which is precisely why sellers rarely bring it up.

The remote path, five steps

Paying for it correctly

Funds must travel through normal banking channels: inward remittance or your NRE, NRO or FCNR accounts. No cash legs, no friends' accounts, no creative structures: the payment trail you build at purchase is the same trail that lets you repatriate cleanly at exit. Keep bank advices and receipts filed with the property documents from day one.

The remote process, compressed

It is the standard eleven-step process with three NRI amplifiers. Verification runs through portals you access yourself (GUJRERA, AnyROR) plus one independent set of eyes on the ground: the remote playbook details it. Site visits run as live video first, one physical touch before registration (yours or your nominee's). Closing runs either on your India trip or through a specific Power of Attorney executed at your consulate and adjudicated in Gujarat: the PoA guide walks the exact steps.

The compliance file you will thank yourself for

One folder, forever: passport and status pages used at purchase, all remittance advices, the agreement, registered deed and index-2, N.A. or TP evidence, 7/12 after mutation, and tax records. At resale, this file answers the TDS office; at repatriation, it answers the bank; at inheritance, it answers everyone. NRI property disputes are overwhelmingly document-absence disputes.

Rules note, honestly: the FEMA permissions and account rules above are rules of general application, summarised as of 2026. Limits and procedures evolve; confirm the current position with your bank and a CA at transaction time. We flag this because desks that promise you the rules never change are the desks to avoid.

The NRI buying guide

What you may and may not buy

Paying for it correctly

The remote process, compressed

The compliance file you will thank yourself for

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