Indians remitted close to $2 billion in November under the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) liberalised remittance scheme (LRS), latest data released by the central bank showed.

Outward remittances under the scheme jumped 29 per cent to $1.99 billion compared to $1.54 billion in the year-ago month. Sequentially, outward remittances under the scheme were up about 3.5 per cent.

International travel continued to remain over 50 per cent of the entire outward remittance by Indians under the scheme. In November, outward remittances for international travel touched $1.03 billion, up 2.25 times from the year-ago period. In 2021, international travel was marred by Covid-related restrictions but slowly picked up later.

After international travel, Indians spent most on maintenance of close relatives, followed by gifts, overseas education. According to the RBI data, outward remittance for maintenance of close relatives was $305.35 million