Well one more correction, Still foreigners can buy commercial lands. They don't have to have PR for the same. Basic purpose of having PR is to get rid of Visa process. By having PR, foreigners can easily work in India. So only benefit oif having PR is 1) You can work and stay indefinitely 2) No need of renewing your visa. 3) Also PR can help them in getting citizenship in future, but remember if you take Indian citizenship you need to give-up your original country citizenship as Dual citizenship is not allowed in india.. rest no extra benefits. All other benefit can be achieved by foreigners even without PR>