How to buy Archer Aviation (ACHR) stock from India

Yes, an Indian resident can buy Archer Aviation — legally, in US dollars, under the RBI's Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS). ACHR trades on NYSE. It pays no dividend. Archer is the second major publicly-listed eVTOL company — pre-revenue, chasing FAA certification, with United Airlines as its airline customer and Stellantis as its manufacturing partner. If JOBY is the lead eVTOL bet, ACHR is the second seat in the trade.

The 30-second version

• Legal and simple. Buy ACHR via Vested, INDmoney, or Interactive Brokers India.
• No dividend. No US withholding or Form 44 complexity.
• India tax: hold more than 24 months → 12.5% LTCG; shorter hold → slab rate. Section 112.
• Estate-tax trap: US-situs asset — above $60,000 of total US-situs assets, up to 40% US estate tax, no treaty relief.
• ACHR vs JOBY: JOBY has Toyota manufacturing and Delta distribution; ACHR has Stellantis manufacturing and United Airlines. JOBY is generally further ahead in FAA certification. Owning both spreads the eVTOL bet — but both are pre-revenue speculative positions. 3–5% of a portfolio maximum for the pair.

Quick facts

Can an Indian resident buy it?	Yes — fully legal under the LRS
Ticker / exchange	ACHR / NYSE
How	IBKR, Rovia, INDmoney, or Vested
Minimum	A fraction of one share
Dividend	None
India tax on gains	12.5% LTCG after 24 months; else your slab (Section 112)
Estate-tax risk	US-situs above $60k → up to 40%, no treaty relief
Annual compliance	Schedule FA every year you hold

How to buy it — 3 steps

1. Open an account and finish KYC. Use IBKR for the widest access and best execution, Rovia for a combined RSU + LRS experience, or INDmoney / Vested for a simple India-funded flow.
2. Fund via the LRS. Cap: $250,000/year. 20% TCS above ₹7 lakh — creditable against income tax.
3. Place the order. ACHR moves sharply on FAA news, test flight results, and airline deal announcements. Stagger entries; never initiate a full position immediately before a certification milestone.

What Archer Aviation actually is

Archer is developing Midnight — a 5-passenger electric air taxi with a 60-mile range optimised for short urban routes (20–40 mile hops). Unlike JOBY's tilting-rotor design, Midnight uses 12 fixed rotors — 6 for vertical lift and 6 tilted for forward thrust in cruise. The fixed-rotor architecture simplifies some mechanical complexity at the cost of cruise efficiency.

United Airlines: Signed a deal for 100 Midnight aircraft with options for 100 more — total order up to $1B. United's urban air mobility strategy targets airport connections (Chicago O'Hare to downtown, Newark to Manhattan).

Stellantis manufacturing partnership: Stellantis invested $150M and provides manufacturing engineering expertise and production facilities. The goal is to achieve automotive-scale production economics — the same learning-curve logic that drives JOBY's Toyota partnership.

US Air Force contract: Archer was awarded a contract to deliver Midnight aircraft to the US Air Force for evaluation — a government customer that validates the technology beyond commercial airline interest alone.

FAA certification timeline: Archer is pursuing FAA Part 135 Air Carrier Certification (to operate commercially) and Part 21 Type Certificate (to manufacture). Both are required for commercial launch. Target: commercial operations 2025–2026. Timeline risk is real; FAA new aircraft category certification has no historical precedent to time against.

Cash position and burn: Approximately $500M+ cash as of Q1 2026. Burn rate ~$100–150M/year. Multiple equity raises likely before commercial launch.

The tax that actually matters

No dividend means a clean capital-gains picture:

Holding period	Treatment	Rate
24 months or less	Short-term	Your slab rate
More than 24 months	Long-term	12.5%, no indexation

Full rules: how US stocks are taxed in India.

The $60,000 estate-tax trap

Directly-held ACHR is a US-situs asset. Above $60,000 of total US-situs holdings at death, US estate tax of up to 40% — no India-US treaty protection. See the estate-tax trap guide.

Buy ACHR, or JOBY, or both?

If you want…	Best route
Lead eVTOL bet (Toyota + Delta, further in certification)	JOBY
Second eVTOL seat (United + Stellantis)	ACHR
Both eVTOL positions	JOBY 60% / ACHR 40% within eVTOL allocation
Full drone and eVTOL picture	Drone stocks guide for Indian investors