Indian banks have seen an impressive increase in flows in non-resident Indian fixed deposits over the past few weeks as the sharp decline in the rupee's value against the dollar encouraged NRIs to send more money back home.

A senior official from the State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest public-sector lender, said that almost all banks saw a notable increase in the accretion to non-resident external (NRE) deposits in wake of the steep fall in the domestic currency's value against the greenback.

Speaking on the topic, the official said, "It is difficult to put out a number at the end of July. But month-on-month flows are growing substantially."

According to figures released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), flows into NRE deposits stood at $2.89 billion in the April-May period of this year, as against $5.56 billion in corresponding period of the previous year. It is worth-mentioning here that it was in May this year, when the rupee started falling against the dollar.

Officials from Bank of Baroda (BoB) also said that the bank saw good growth in NRE deposits.

An ING Vysya Bank official also said that there was a sharp increase in fixed deposits in the past twelve months, thanks to a combination of an increase in the cap on NRE deposits and the decline in rupee's value.