REMITTANCES TO INDIA TI RISE $ 77 BILLION

Remittances to India are expected to grow 8 per cent year-on-year to reach about USD 77 billion in 2014, Xpress Money's Vice President Sudhesh Giriyan said today. Xpress Money is a money transfer company operating in about 150 countries. Remittances to India surged to USD 71 billion during 2013 compared to USD 69.3 billion in 2012. "Remittances to India is expected to grow by 7-8 per cent in 2014. India has been the largest recipient in the world with an 8 per cent year-on-year growth in remittance in the last five years," Giriyan told reporters in an interaction here today. By the end of this year, the company will also launch its services in account transfer remittances, he said, for which regulatory approvals are in the process. Xpress Money currently has about 10 per cent share in the cash remittance market in India and aims to increase it to about 15 per cent in the next five years, Giriyan said. Of the total remittance market in India, about USD 15 billion is for cash facility, while the rest accounts for non-cash remittances. "Patterns of global migration and remittances to India have shifted in recent decades, as both the number of migrants and the amount of money they send have grown. "In addition to the traditionally high remittance receiving states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh, we have seen inward remittances rising robustly in other states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, and Karnataka," he said. These states together make up for almost 80-85 per cent of the total remittances coming into India. Biggest contributing sectors to India's remittance market are real estate, infrastructure, financial institutions, hospitality and healthcare. Inward remittances form about 22-23 per cent of country's foreign exchange income.