The LRS (Liberalised Remittance Scheme) is a Reserve Bank of India rule that lets a resident Indian individual send up to USD 250,000 abroad per financial year for permitted current and capital account transactions, through authorised banking channels.
How does the LRS work?
The scheme sits under FEMA and is administered by the RBI. Every resident individual — including minors — gets a single USD 250,000 ceiling per financial year (April to March), and all remittances are routed through an authorised dealer bank that reports them to the central bank.
Who: resident individuals only — not companies, LLPs, or partnership firms.
How much: up to USD 250,000 per person per financial year, across all permitted purposes combined.
What for: permitted current account uses (travel, education, gifts, medical) and capital account uses (overseas investment, property, foreign bank deposits).
Crucially, the LRS governs money leaving India. Inbound payments — what an Indian founder earns from US clients — are not capped by the LRS; they are governed by FEMA purpose codes instead.
Why does the LRS matter for a global founder?
Founders mix it up constantly: the LRS limits what you *send out* of India, not what you *receive*. If you are getting paid from abroad — in USD or stablecoins like USDC — the relevant question is whether that inflow is tagged with a correct purpose code and carries a paper trail, not whether it fits under USD 250,000. But the LRS does matter when you fund a foreign entity, invest overseas, or move your own capital out, which is common once a cross-border business takes shape.
Where StableCorp fits
StableCorp handles the *inbound* side — off-ramping your USDC into INR on compliant FEMA rails, not the grey area — settling against supported RBI purpose codes so each payout has a proper record. The grey area is the DIY, direct-wallet route that never gets a purpose code; the compliant path is what keeps you clean at audit. See our guide on receiving USDC payments from US clients. Direct off-ramp to INR runs at 1% — see pricing.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice; confirm current LRS and FEMA guidance with the RBI or a qualified advisor before acting.
Sources
Reserve Bank of India — Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) FAQs — https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/FAQView.aspx?Id=115
Reserve Bank of India — FEMA Notifications — https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_FemaNotifications.aspx