Short answer: under the RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) — a resident individual can send up to $250,000 per financial year abroad to buy foreign stocks. You do it either through an India-based app that handles the remittance (INDmoney, Vested, Groww, Angel One), or by remitting to a direct foreign broker like Interactive Brokers. If you’d rather skip the paperwork entirely, rupee-denominated international ETFs/fund-of-funds give the same exposure with no LRS at all.
Two things bind every direct route: it’s delivery only (RBI does not allow LRS money for margin or overseas F&O), and a 20% TCS applies on remittances above roughly ₹7 lakh/year — collected at source, then creditable against your income tax (the threshold has shifted in recent budgets, so confirm the current figure).
The routes, compared
| Route | LRS used? | What you get | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| INDmoney / Vested / Groww (US) | Yes | US stocks & ETFs, fractional, rupee-funded | Most people — simplest direct route |
| Interactive Brokers (direct) | Yes | The widest global market access of any broker | Beyond the US — Europe, Asia, EM |
| GIFT City (NSE IFSC) | Yes (domestic rails) | US stocks as unsponsored depository receipts | Staying inside Indian-regulated rails |
| India-listed intl ETFs / FoFs | No | Index exposure (Nasdaq 100, S&P 500, FANG+) | Simplicity — no remittance, no TCS friction |
Which to pick
- Just want US stocks, simply → an India app (INDmoney, Vested, Groww). They remit under LRS for you, support fractional shares, and fund in rupees. The cleanest on-ramp.
- Want the whole world, not just the US → Interactive Brokers. It onboards Indian residents directly and reaches far more markets (Europe, Japan, EM) than the India apps, which are US-only. You handle the LRS remittance from your bank.
- Prefer to stay on Indian rails → GIFT City (NSE IFSC), where US names trade as depository receipts.
- Don’t want LRS paperwork or the TCS at all → rupee ETFs/FoFs (Motilal Oswal Nasdaq 100, Mirae FANG+, and similar). That’s index exposure, not specific stocks — and SEBI’s overseas-investment caps occasionally pause fresh inflows, so check the fund is open.
The catch foreigners would envy
This is the inverse of India’s foreign-investor problem: a foreigner trying to buy Indian stocks faces the heavy FPI/custodian machinery, while a resident Indian buys the entire NSE/BSE through Zerodha or Groww in an afternoon — and reaches the rest of the world through LRS. Locked out one way, wide open the other.
Full detail
The home-market brokers, the LRS mechanics and the GIFT City route are covered on the India country page (see the “If you’re an Indian resident” section).
Last updated 13 June 2026. LRS limit and TCS are RBI/Income-Tax rules — verify the current TCS threshold, which has changed in recent budgets.