Zerodha has launched US stock investing in beta on its Kite platform, giving Indian investors access to 2,000 US-listed companies and around 1,000 exchange-traded funds. Fractional investing is supported, so users can start with as little as $1 instead of buying a full share.
The service runs on existing Zerodha accounts. Resident Indian individuals can activate the international investing segment inside Kite without opening a separate demat account. It is not available to NRIs, joint account holders, or non-individual entities.
Funding goes through net banking from a linked Indian bank account into a dollar-denominated wallet. UPI, debit cards, and credit cards are not supported. Orders are routed through BSE’s India INX Global Access platform at GIFT City, and Zerodha’s investing guide names ViewTrade as its US brokerage partner. The shares are held with the overseas broker, not in an Indian demat account.
What it costs
Zerodha charges brokerage of 0.1 percent of the trade value, with a minimum of $0.01 and a maximum of $10 per executed order. An 18 percent GST applies on the brokerage, along with an IFSCA turnover fee of 0.005 percent and US regulatory fees on sell orders.
Currency conversion carries a negotiated bank markup of 0.5 to 1.2 percent over the RBI reference rate. The $10 cap matters for larger trades. A $20,000 order pays $10 in brokerage instead of $20.
The limits to know
US investing on Kite is strictly delivery-based. Intraday and margin trading are not available, and users cannot apply for US IPOs. SIPs in eligible stocks are supported, same-day buy and sell trades are allowed, and stop-loss orders through GTT are expected soon. The service currently runs on Kite Web, with the app rollout to follow.
Investments fall under the RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme. On taxes, the India-US double taxation agreement means capital gains from US stocks are taxable only in India for resident Indian investors, not in the US.
A crowded race
Zerodha is a late entrant here. The IFSCA approved Zerodha, Groww, Upstox, and Angel One for GIFT City-based international investing in June. Groww launched in September with more than 10,000 US stocks and ETFs through Alpaca Securities, and Upstox offers over 8,000 stocks and 2,000 ETFs.
Zerodha’s catalogue is smaller, but its distribution is not. With India’s largest retail broking base moving onto one app for both Indian and US markets, rivals now face a pricing and convenience fight they did not have last quarter. The open question is how many investors will actually route money abroad given the LRS paperwork and forex costs involved.
