UAE Exchange says record $7.18 bn transferred to India in 2013

Remittances by expatriate Indians using the UAE Exchange surged to a record $7.18 billion (Rs43,180 crore) in 2013, a growth of 6.44 per cent over the previous year, the money transfer agent said in a release on Wednesday.

This, according to UAE Exchange, works out to over 10 per cent of the total remittance by expatriate Indians into India and 6 per cent of
total remittance flows globally.

Remittances to Maharashtra in 2013 rose 12 per cent from last year to over $1 billion, contributing 14.26 per cent of total into the country, the exchange said.

UAE Exchange said states like Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu contributed nearly 60 per cent of total inflows in the year.

"We have seen record performance in remittance flows into India during 2013, with states like Maharashtra, Karnataka and Rajasthan growing faster than others. We remain positive about the outlook as more job opportunities are already getting created abroad," Promoth Manghat, VP, global operations, UAE Exchange, said.

While the number of money transfers increased the average transaction size remained around $1,734 in 2013 as against $1,829 in the previous year, suggesting that majority of the migrant workers and expats send money back home for family maintenance purposes.

The survey also suggested that around 36 per cent of the total remittance inflows in Mumbai were from the Gulf countries, while 34 per cent of remittances were received from North America.

A recent RBI survey suggested a majority of the transactions in places like Mumbai, were either through electronic wire transfers or direct to bank accounts.

Nearly 45 per cent of remittances in the state capital were used for family maintenance purposes, while 18 per cent were used to deposit in banks,  the RBI survey revealed.