NORKA Department Project for Returned Emigrants NDPREM
NORKA Roots pays a capital subsidy and an interest subsidy on a bank loan for a business started by a Keralite who has come home after at least two years of work abroad.
Last updated on
- Cost to apply
- No application fee is mentioned on the official pages
- Status
- Open
- Run by
- NORKA Roots, Department of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs, Government of Kerala
What you get
- Capital subsidy of 15% of the project cost, up to ₹3 lakh
- Interest subsidy of 3% for the first four years
- Both subsidies are paid only to borrowers who repay on time
- Covers projects up to ₹30 lakh in small industry, agriculture and allied work, trading and services
- Free entrepreneurship training and help with the project report through the NORKA Business Facilitation Centre
Who can apply
- New businesses, or people about to start one.
- Micro enterprises.
- Only for returnees from abroad.
- Project cost up to ₹30 lakh.
- The most on offer is ₹3 lakh.
- Worked abroad for at least two years and returned to settle in Kerala
- The loan must come from a bank or institution that has an agreement with NORKA Roots
- Societies, trusts, companies and associations formed by returned emigrants can also apply
- Each partner bank applies its own lending rules on top of the NORKA subsidy
How to apply
- Register online with NORKA Roots under NDPREM, giving the project details, the amount needed and the bank you want to borrow from
- Take the printed registration, your passport and a photo to a NORKA Roots district office for screening, or post copies of the registration, the passport pages showing at least two years abroad and a photo to NORKA Roots in Thiruvananthapuram
- NORKA Roots sends a recommendation to the chosen bank or institution
- The bank appraises and sanctions the loan, then claims the subsidies from NORKA Roots
In person, any NORKA Roots district office, or a branch of a partner bank or corporation
In Kerala, a loan from one of the banks or institutions that has an agreement with NORKA Roots. The official list names State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Kerala Bank, Bank of Baroda, Federal Bank, South Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Union Bank of India, Bank of India, UCO Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank, Kerala State Co-operative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank, Kerala Financial Corporation, Kerala State Backward Classes Development Corporation, Kerala State Development Corporation for SC and ST, Kerala State Women's Development Corporation, Kerala State Pravasi Welfare Development Co-operative Society in Malappuram and Travancore Pravasi Development Co-operative Society in Thiruvananthapuram
Head office
Documents to keep ready
- Passport
- Voter ID or another identity card
- Aadhaar
- Photograph
- Ration card
- PAN card
- Short description of the project
Figures you may see elsewhere
The earlier NORKA page lists 18 partner institutions. News reports in 2025 mention 17 or 19.
News reports describe loans to start or expand a business. The official wording found refers to new enterprises.
One consultant site says the capital subsidy is released after a four year lock-in, while a 2026 explainer says the bank claims it after disbursement. The 2022 Industries Department booklet says, for KSBCDC's Re-Turn loans under this scheme, the unit must stay running for 4 years from the subsidy sanction, or until the loan closes if sooner.
Worth knowing
Partner agreements were renewed with SBI in 2025 for three years, and Kerala Bank joined with a ₹100 crore lending plan in 2025 (news reports). Partner corporations still list the scheme on their official pages in November 2026. We have not seen any change since the new government took office in May 2026.
Where we found this
- NDPREM page on the earlier NORKA Roots website, last updated 23 June 2021 (external site) Official
- KSDC for SC and ST, loan for rehabilitation of returned emigrants (external site) Official
- KSWDC loan schemes, NORKA Vanitha Mithra (external site) Official
- KSBCDC FAQ, Re-Turn scheme subsidies (external site) Official
- Strategy for formation of 1 lakh enterprises in 2022, Booklet 3, popular subsidy schemes, Directorate of Industries and Commerce (external site) Official
- NORKA Roots renews agreement with SBI for NDPREM scheme (external site) Other source
- Kerala to provide ₹100 crore in loans for returning NRIs through Kerala Bank (external site) Other source
An independent guide by The Company of Four, not a government website. Schemes change often, so check every detail on the official website before you apply. Links marked ↗ open external websites that we do not run, and we are not responsible for their content. Seen something out of date? Tell us and we will look into it.