India’s overseas travel expenditure declined in March 2026, with the figure falling to $1.09 billion from $1.3 billion in February and $1.65 billion in January, recent data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed. The $212.43 million month-on-month fall comes amid geopolitical tensions in West Asia that have pushed up global oil prices, led to higher international airfares and put historic pressure on the Indian rupee. Despite the fall, outbound travel was the single largest contributor to the overall outward remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), which was $2.59 billion for the month.
A closer look at the RBI data reveals that the “other travel” sub-category which covers holiday trips, discretionary foreign leisure and international credit card settlements was the largest contributor to the expenditure at $623.05 million or nearly 57% of the total travel outgo. On the other hand, expenses related to education-related travel including tuition fees and overseas student accommodation were a robust $450.16 million. The remaining $21.39 million was spread over business trips, medical treatment abroad and pilgrimages.
“The timing fits with general macro worries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently asked the citizens to cut down on non-essential foreign trips to curb foreign exchange outflows and prevent the local currency from falling further. Interestingly, remittances under the LRS for the maintenance of close relatives abroad actually picked up to $389.78 million in March from $266.18 million in the previous month, while discretionary vacation expenditure tapered. A combination of stringent Tax Collected at Source (TCS) monitoring on luxury spends and changing global market trends is successfully reversing the outward capital trends of aspirational Indian households, say financial experts
