The Department of Posts, (DoP) trading as India Post, on Friday launched instant money transfer service in partnership with UAE’s Emirates Post Group to grab a sizeable share in the $35 billion remittances that come into India from the Gulf region.
India Post has signed an agreement with Wall Street Exchange (a company of the Emirates Post Group of UAE) for launch of an International Electronic Money Transfer service through ‘Instant Cash’ product of the Emirates Post Group”, a DoP’s official statement said.
“Instant Cash” is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Emirates Post Group, and its services are available in 59 countries through more than 60,000 locations.
The new service has its own significance going by the fact that globally, India is the largest recipient of remittances with over $70 billion annually, half of which come from the Gulf.”
India will be the top recipient of foreign remittances this year, earning $71 billion, over a fifth of it will come from non-resident Keralites (NRKs), says an expert on migration and remittances.
According to S Irudaya Rajan, professor at Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, who has tracked NRK remittances for several years, at least one fifth of the total remittances to India would be from Keralites, mostly working in Gulf countries.