The short answer

There are three ways to do it. Go through a domestic broker that has tied up with a US partner, open an account with a foreign broker directly, or use NSE's IFSC platform in GIFT City. All three sit on the same rulebook underneath: the RBI's Liberalised Remittance Scheme, which lets a resident individual send up to USD 2,50,000 abroad in a financial year for this kind of investment. So pick the route on friction, not on which name sounds fanciest.

Route 1: A domestic broker with a US tie-up

Most first-timers take this path, mainly because there's still an Indian entity handling onboarding, KYC and support when something breaks. A handful of Indian brokers already list US stocks or ETFs among their instruments: Angel One, 5Paisa and Motilal Oswal all show "US Stocks" in their product line-up. Groww used to offer this too, but its US Stocks and ETFs option is currently marked paused. Zerodha doesn't offer international stocks at all. So if that's your only account, you'll need a second one. Our trading apps roundup has the full instrument list for each.

Under the hood, your rupees still leave India as an LRS remittance and land in a US brokerage account, usually run by a partner firm. You get fractional-share buying too. One report on this ecosystem noted you can start with an order as small as $0.01, though every share still carries its own minimum, so that floor isn't quite as low as it sounds.

Route 2: A foreign broker, direct

Some investors skip the Indian middleman entirely and open an account directly with a US or international broker. The mechanics don't change: you still remit under LRS, PAN is still mandatory for every such transaction through an authorised person, and the money is taxed the same way once it comes back. What changes is support. There's no Indian broker's help desk here. You're on your own with a foreign entity for KYC, disputes and withdrawals.

Route 3: NSE IFSC in GIFT City

This is India's own answer to the problem. NSE's International Financial Services Centre platform in GIFT City began trading in eight US stocks on March 3, 2022, using unsponsored depository receipts, with the plan always to scale toward the top 50 US stocks: Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Netflix, Tesla, Meta, Walmart and Microsoft made up the original eight. You still fund it under the same USD 2,50,000 LRS limit, and trading hours run from 8 PM to 2:45 AM IST to overlap with the US market. The catch is withdrawal, which can cost as much as $10–$20, on top of forex charges at the time you pull money out.

What the Liberalised Remittance Scheme actually allows

Every route above rides on the LRS, so it's worth knowing its shape. The scheme started in 2004 with a limit of just USD 25,000, and it has been revised upward in stages ever since. Today a resident individual, including a minor, can remit up to USD 2,50,000 per financial year for a permitted current or capital account transaction, and overseas stock investing qualifies. PAN is compulsory for every remittance made through an authorised person. Use up the full limit in a year and that's it. No more remittances, even if you've already brought earlier investment proceeds back into India.

The tax bill: TCS, capital gains, and dividends

Two separate tax questions apply here, and it helps to keep them apart.

Tax collected at source (TCS), at the time you remit. As of the current rules, all outward remittances other than for education or medical purposes attract 20% TCS above a threshold, a rate that replaced an earlier 5% one from October 1, 2023. Budget 2025 then raised the threshold itself, from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. Here's the part people miss: TCS isn't an extra cost you lose. It's an advance tax, and you can claim it back or adjust it against your final liability when you file your ITR.

Capital gains and dividends, once you sell or get paid. Gains on US stocks held for less than 24 months get taxed at your regular income slab rate in India. Hold beyond 24 months, though, and long-term gains are taxed at a flat 12.5%, without indexation benefit. Dividends are different again. The US withholds 25% at source, and you can generally claim credit for that against your Indian tax liability under the India-US tax treaty. So you aren't paying it twice.

The costs that don't show up in the headline number

Beyond taxes, there are quieter frictions: a forex markup of roughly 0.5–2% every time rupees convert to dollars and back, a brokerage or platform fee of 0–0.25% per trade, a bank transfer fee of about Rs 500–2,000 per transfer, and a currency conversion spread of around 0.2–2%. None of these is large alone. Stack them across several remittances and trades a year, though, and they add up. That hits harder if you're investing in small, frequent tranches rather than moving money in a few large chunks.

Picking a route

Want the least friction and the most familiar support? Start with an Indian broker that already offers US stocks, but check its fee page and instrument list before you commit, since not every "top" app supports this. Comfortable managing a foreign account directly, and after a broader universe of stocks? A foreign broker gets you there without an Indian intermediary in between. Want remittance, demat and trading to all stay inside an Indian regulatory wrapper instead? NSE IFSC in GIFT City is the closest thing to a homegrown version of US investing, narrower stock list and withdrawal charges included.

Whichever you pick, the LRS ceiling, the TCS rule and the capital-gains treatment apply the same way. The real choice is about who holds your account and how much hand-holding you want along the way, not about dodging the rulebook. Nothing here does that.