How to Send Money From Australia to India

Remittance from Australia to India: how it works

A remittance to India moves from your Australian bank or provider, converts AUD into INR, and pays into the recipient's Indian bank account through the local IMPS, NEFT or RTGS payment networks, or via SWIFT if the sender uses a bank wire. Wise's published guide states you can send INR to a private individual's bank account — including an NRE or NRO account — or to a UPI ID, and lists what's needed: the recipient's full name, their account number, and their 11-character IFSC code, which identifies the specific bank branch (wise.com/help, fetched September 2026). OFX also lists INR among its supported currencies, but flags it with its own "restricted currency" marker (alongside the Philippine peso, the only other currency carrying that flag on OFX's published list) and notes it supports outgoing payment via local rails — meaning INR isn't funded and paid out the same way as an unrestricted currency, and it's worth checking OFX's current process for this pair directly (ofx.com, fetched September 2026).

NRE or NRO — why it's worth asking before you send

Wise's own guide notes that INR can be sent to either an NRE (Non-Resident External) or an NRO (Non-Resident Ordinary) account, and these are genuinely different account types under India's foreign-exchange framework, administered by the Reserve Bank of India. Which one the recipient uses affects how freely the money can later be moved or repatriated, and the two accounts are used for different purposes. This page doesn't set out the specific rules for each account type, since that needs its own dedicated treatment — Migratio's guide to receiving money in India from Australia through an NRE or NRO account covers the distinction directly. The practical takeaway here is simple: ask the recipient which account they're using before a large or property-related transfer, rather than assuming any Indian bank account works the same way.

Speed

Wise's published guide states that once it converts your money, it usually takes 1 working day to arrive in the recipient's Indian bank account, and that a UPI payment can reach Wise within a minute, while a bank transfer via IMPS, NEFT or RTGS usually takes about an hour to reach Wise before conversion (wise.com/help, fetched September 2026). A bank SWIFT wire from Australia typically takes longer — commonly several business days — because it routes through correspondent banking relationships rather than India's local instant-payment rails.

Fees and how the exchange rate is set

Your Australian bank publishes its own international transfer fee and states how it sets the AUD/INR exchange rate on its transfer page — check the current figure directly, since banks revise these independently. A specialist provider quotes both a fee and the AUD/INR rate at the point you set up the transfer. The India corridor is one of the highest-volume remittance routes globally, which is part of why it's served by a wide range of specialist providers alongside banks and traditional remittance networks offering cash pickup — compare the INR amount your recipient will actually receive after both the fee and the exchange-rate margin, rather than the fee figure alone.

Sending a larger amount

Wise's published INR limits show up to 100 million INR per transfer between private individuals, with lower instant-payment caps — up to 500,000 INR for an IMPS recipient and up to 200,000 INR for a UPI recipient — and separate limits of up to 1.5 million INR per working day if either party is a business (wise.com/help, fetched September 2026). Wise also notes it can't process transfers to India for investment or charitable-donation purposes under its own regulatory restrictions, and that recipients may need a Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate (FIRC) as proof the funds came from overseas — the recipient's own bank issues this, so check with them if it's needed for a property purchase or another documented purpose.

AUSTRAC's side: reporting, not a limit

Australia doesn't limit how much you can send to India. Every transfer your bank or provider sends is reported to AUSTRAC automatically as an international funds transfer instruction, regardless of the amount — this is a reporting obligation on the institution, not a step you take yourself, and not a cap on the transfer. The AUD 10,000 figure that's sometimes quoted online applies specifically to physical cash carried across the Australian border, not to an ordinary electronic transfer, however large.

India's Liberalised Remittance Scheme — and why it doesn't apply to this direction

The Reserve Bank of India's Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) sets a cap of USD 250,000 per financial year on how much a resident individual in India can remit out of India, confirmed directly in the RBI's own Master Direction on the scheme (rbi.org.in, updated as at 6 September 2024, fetched September 2026). This limit applies to someone in India sending money out — it doesn't apply to you sending money from Australia into India, which is the direction this page covers. It's worth knowing the LRS exists mainly because it explains a different, related question: how much the same recipient could later send back out of India if they wanted to, which is a separate topic to sending money to them.

Common mistakes

Getting the IFSC code wrong. Wise's guide specifies it's an 11-character code, usually starting with 4 letters, that identifies the specific bank branch — an incorrect IFSC is a common cause of a delayed or misrouted transfer.

Not asking which account type the recipient holds. Since NRE and NRO accounts are treated differently under India's foreign-exchange rules, confirm which one applies, particularly for a property-related or large transfer, and read Migratio's dedicated NRE/NRO guide before assuming it doesn't matter.

Applying India's outbound LRS cap to this corridor by mistake — the USD 250,000 figure describes money leaving India, not money arriving from Australia.

How much can I send from Australia to India?

There's no Australian cap. Specialist providers set their own limits — Wise, for example, publishes up to 100 million INR per transfer between individuals, with lower caps for instant IMPS or UPI payments (wise.com/help, September 2026).

How long does a transfer from Australia to India take?

Wise's published guide says it usually takes 1 working day to arrive after conversion, with a UPI payment reaching the provider within a minute and IMPS/NEFT/RTGS around an hour (wise.com/help, September 2026). Bank SWIFT wires typically take several business days.

What is the difference between an NRE and an NRO account?

Both are Indian bank accounts for non-resident Indians, administered under RBI's foreign-exchange framework, and they're treated differently for what can be done with the money afterwards. See Migratio's dedicated guide to receiving money in India from Australia through an NRE or NRO account for the distinction.

Does India's USD 250,000 remittance limit apply to money I send from Australia?

No. That limit, under India's Liberalised Remittance Scheme, applies to a resident of India sending money out of the country — not to a transfer coming in from Australia (rbi.org.in, September 2026).

Do I need to report a transfer to India to AUSTRAC myself?

No. Your bank or provider reports every international transfer automatically, regardless of amount. The AUD 10,000 figure people sometimes mention online is a physical-cash rule and doesn't apply to an electronic transfer.

What is an IFSC code and why does it matter?

It's an 11-character code identifying the specific branch of an Indian bank, usually starting with 4 letters. Wise's guide lists it as required information for any INR bank transfer, and getting it wrong is a common cause of a delayed transfer (wise.com/help, September 2026).