$36.7B NRI Deposit Windfall: RBI's hedging-cost subsidy pulled in massive foreign currency inflows. HSBC led at $6.14 billion, followed by SBI at $4.12 billion and ICICI Bank at $3.7 billion.
FCNR Rate Hikes: HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank both raised FCNR(B) rates by 25 bps to 6.25% for 3–5 year tenures, passing on the government's hedging-cost relief to NRIs seeking tax-free returns.
