I am paid in USD and the amount is direct deposited to a bank of my choice in the USA. The wire transfer costs about USD 7.50/month. You can select any bank, anwhere in the world as long as you can provide the wire transfer instructions. I guess your payroll currency depends on the contract you sign, but I imagine most are in USD. Most of us on USD contracts are losing quite a bit because of the exchange rate. The USD/INR used to be 1USD/45INR. Now it is around 1USD/39INR. On an average $10,000 USD paycheck you are thus losing INR 60,000 (around $1500/month). Some contracts are coming with currency exchange protection clauses I'm told. I was watching a news video where many places in India (tourist attractions) vendors are asking for INR instead of USD.
If you are in India only for 2 months on/1 month off, you don't really need to open an account in India. You can use your ATM quite easily here (small surcharge). Some open a local account for basic expenses here. You will need all kinds of paperwork to open an account so be prepared. There are many International Banks here in India (Citibank etc) but you will not be able to link them to your existing accounts as the banking rules are different here.
I have been here almost 8 months and I must say that my employer, Spicejet Ltd had been excellent in issues relating to payroll. It has always been on time or early. We get paid once a month. Overtime is paid the following month.
Last edited by Nevrekar; 3rd Jan 2008 at 22:29.