Trading forex is increasingly popular in India, but it’s also heavily regulated, and the path to trading forex in India isn’t always straightforward.
As a general rule, it’s best to use a broker regulated in your country of residence. However, due to restrictions on locally regulated financial institutions in India, the only way for local citizens to speculate in the forex market is to use a foreign broker — such as those on our list — that accepts clients who reside in India.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India, or SEBI, is the financial regulatory body in India. The SEBI was established in 1988 as a nonstatutory body and given powers with the SEBI Act 1992. Read more about SEBI history on its Wikipedia page.
Best Forex Brokers India
o find the best forex brokers in India, we created a list of all brokers that accept new customers from India and ranked them by their Overall ranking
Here is our list of the best forex brokers for India:
General Info
- Min Deposit: $10
- Max Leverage: 30:1
- Inactivity fee : Yes
- Platforms: Mobile app, Webtrader, TVC, MT4, MT5
Average Spread
- EURUSD: 1.5
- USDJPY: 1.7
- GBPUSD: 1.6
- GOLD: 0.4
82% of retail CFD accounts lose money
General Info
- Min Deposit: $100
- Max Leverage: 30:1
- Inactivity fee: Yes
- Platforms: Mobile app, Webtrader, MT4, MT5, cTrader
Average Spread
- EURUSD: 1.3
- USDJPY: 1.7
- GBPUSD: 2.0
- GOLD: 0.3
82% of retail CFD accounts lose money
General Info
- Min Deposit: $10
- Max Leverage: 500:1
- Inactivity fee: No
- Platforms: Mobile app, Webtrader
Average Spread
- EURUSD: 1.2
- USDJPY: 1.5
- GBPUSD: 2.0
- GOLD: 0.9
71-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money
General Info
- Min Deposit: $10
- Max Leverage: 1000:1
- Inactivity fee : No
- Platforms: Mobile app, Webtrader, MT4, MT5
Average Spread
- EURUSD: 1.0
- USDJPY: 1.1
- GBPUSD: 1.2
- GOLD: 0.2
71-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money
General Info
- Min Deposit: $100
- Max Leverage: 300:1
- Inactivity fee: Yes
- Platforms: Mobile app, Webtrader, MT4, MT5
Average Spread
- EURUSD: 0.6
- USDJPY: 1.0
- GBPUSD: 1.5
- GOLD: 0.3
71% of retail CFD accounts lose money
General Info
- Min Deposit: $10
- Max Leverage: 500:1
- Inactivity fee: Yes
- Platforms: Mobile app, MT4, MT5
Average Spread
- EURUSD: 0.2 – $8 Commission/Lot
- USDJPY: 0.2
- GBPUSD: 0.4
- GOLD: 0.2
71-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money
Is forex trading legal in India?
Yes, forex trading in India is legal – albeit with strict limitations and restrictions. Forex traders in India cannot speculate on forex prices or engage in spot forex trading in India, even when using a SEBI-regulated broker. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) does not allow clients to engage in leveraged forex transactions from a margin account. That said, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) received approval from SEBI in 2008 to legally offer forex trading in India through listed futures and options. As such, most Indian residents will be limited to using exchange-traded products.
Forex trading in India is highly regulated when it comes to the physical exchange of one currency for another (where actual, physical delivery of the currency takes place) and is legal when done so with a SEBI-regulated broker. When retail traders are speculating on the price of forex by using currency pairs, no physical currency is delivered, and thus many foreign brokers accept clients from India even if they don’t hold regulatory status with the SEBI.
Still, if you are a resident of India and you are considering trading forex using a foreign broker, make sure they are highly regulated. As recently as September 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has warned against dealing with foreign brokers that aren’t locally regulated. Additionally, the Central Bank of India has restrictions in place that can make it difficult to deposit and withdraw funds with foreign forex brokers that are not regulated by the SEBI.
How to trade forex in India
To trade forex as a resident of India, you will either be working with a SEBI-regulated broker that offers exchange-traded currency derivatives or with a foreign broker (preferably regulated and trustworthy) that offers retail forex from a margin account.
We’ve put together some important first steps to take if you want to get started trading forex in India:
- Decide whether you want to trade off-exchange forex – also known as over-the-counter (OTC) – from a margin account with a foreign forex broker, or if you prefer exchange-traded currency derivatives (i.e. a listed product).
- Choose your forex broker; make sure it’s highly regulated to reduce your chances of falling victim to a scam broker.
- Consider the available payment methods, and choose the method that will serve you best for depositing and withdrawing funds from your broker.
- Open and fund a live brokerage account with an amount you can afford to risk, and then practice trading with a demo account to learn the trading platform software and mobile trading app.
- Identify your trading goals and work towards developing a trading plan. Consume as much educational content as you can (your broker is usually a good place to start) to make informed choices about how to structure your trading plan.
- Test your trading strategy with live funds, using an amount that you can afford to risk.
When testing trading strategies, make sure to focus on the percentage returns before scaling your strategy to take on higher potential risk/reward levels.
How much money do I need to trade forex in India?
Forex trading in India is limited to exchange-traded currency derivatives and futures, so the amount of money you’ll need to trade forex in India will be dictated by the contract sizes available for trading on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the amount of margin required to open a position. You’ll also need to be aware of your broker’s minimum deposit requirements.
If you are using a forex broker based outside of India that offers micro contracts, you can trade forex with as little as $100 (roughly 8,200 Indian Rupees). In this case, your broker will need to accept Indian residents as clients, and will ideally be highly regulated in trusted jurisdictions.