Public Provident Fund is a good scheme to invest for the long term, offering good interest rates. The returns and withdrawals are completely tax free.
However, an NRI cannot invest in Public Provident Fund account. If you are Indian resident turned NRI, you may retain your PPF account till it matures but cannot extend it.
What is the alternative?
- If you are looking for low risk options, then An alternative is to invest in Debt Mutual Funds that specialise in Government of India bonds. The are called G-Sec funds. Tax treatment if you hold these for more than 3 years is friendly as you get indexation benefit.
- Invest in index funds or some large cap equity funds.
To get started as an NRI investor, you can click here.