New Delhi, Jan 29: Remittances by expatriate Indians are the highest in the world and account for 15 per cent of the total global remittances, the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has said.

''During January-September 2003, remittances to India amounted to 13.3 billion dollars,'' NCAER said in its latest quarterly review (October-December '03).
The economic think-tank said foreign exchange reserves stood at nearly 104 billion dollars as on January 09, 2004 ''backed by consistent capital, remittances and tourist inflows''
''In the calendar year 2003, foreign exchange earnings from the travel and tourism industry increased by 23 per cent. This sector is the third largest foreign exchange earner for the country,'' it added.
It said the increase in foreign exchange reserves created an opportunity for the finance minister to reduce customs duties extensively.
''In earlier years, the government would have been worried about lower duties on India's balance of payment. However, the 'positive feel' of a good agricultural year, together with more than optimal foreign exchange reserves, has now resulted in the customs duty reduction.
''This has formed the basis of our simulation exercise where we assume that there is an across-the-board reduction in customs duty by five per cent in the non-agricultural sector and there is a full exemption of the sad as well,'' NCAER said.
Bureau Report