After a sale of property and payment of appropriate taxes either through TDS during sale or advance payment of taxes, NRIs can remit up to $1 million USD.
NRIs have to produce documentary evidence of sale (sale deed, registration fees receipts, tax payment evidence) along with a certificate from an auditor to remit the amount back to their country of residence.
Any amount over $1 million requires special permission from RBI.
Starting Nov 21, 2011, SBI will not charge pre-payment penalty on its home loans. RBI has been pushing banks to drop the penalty for a while and finally, some one stepped up to the plate.
There were two kinds of pre-payment that customers did- paying off from their own funds or through a loan from another bank. Some charged penalty only if you paid off your loan from another bank. But now SBI has said NO penalty to any kind of pre-payment.
This is good news, as pretty soon other banks will have to follow suit to keep up with the competition.