Before you start

PAN, or at least a filed Form 49AA application
Passport with a valid long-term visa, and the e-FRRO registration certificate
Proof of a Nagpur address
An Indian mobile number, which UPI depends on

Step-by-step

1
File Form 49AA for PAN before you approach a bank
Foreign citizens cannot use the free Aadhaar-based instant e-PAN. Form 49AA through Protean or UTIITSL is the route, with the passport as identity proof. An e-PAN PDF usually lands before the physical card.
OnlineWho: YouWeek 1
2
Ask for a RESIDENT savings account, explicitly
Employment in India generally makes you a person resident in India under FEMA from the day you arrive intending to stay. That means an ordinary resident savings account. NRE and NRO products are for non-residents and carry repatriation and tax rules that will not fit your situation.
In personWho: You
3
Use a branch near MIHAN, Civil Lines or Ramdaspeth
The branches serving the SEZ, the government quarter and the medical and professional district handle corporate customers routinely and are the ones most likely to have processed a foreign passport. A neighbourhood branch in the older east of the city may not have done so in a long time.
In personWho: You
4
Complete KYC in person with originals
Take passport, visa, FRRO registration, PAN, the registered leave-and-licence agreement as address proof, and photographs. Indian KYC is thorough and address verification sometimes involves someone physically visiting. Expect days, not minutes.
In personWho: You
5
Set up UPI the moment the account is live
Link the account in Google Pay, PhonePe or Paytm using the Indian mobile number registered with the bank. UPI is how the country actually pays — autorickshaws, poha carts, chemists, everything. It is the single biggest quality-of-life step of your first month.
Mobile appWho: YouWeek 2
6
Learn the outward remittance route before you need it
India operates capital controls. Sending salary or savings abroad has a defined process with documentation on source of funds and tax paid. Ask your bank how it works while you are calm, not when a deadline is on you.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

PAN card or e-PAN
Passport with valid visa
e-FRRO registration certificate
Registered leave-and-licence agreement as address proof
Passport photographs and completed KYC forms

Things most newcomers don’t know

Nagpur's minimum balance thresholds are well below Mumbai's, for the same bank and the same product.

Indian banks tier the minimum average monthly balance by branch classification, and Nagpur sits several tiers below Mumbai. The same private bank can ask for a fraction of the balance here that it would on a Mumbai account, and this is disclosed in the schedule of charges rather than in the conversation. Combined with rents at a third of Mumbai's, it is part of why the same salary goes so much further in Vidarbha.

Source: Reserve Bank of India — customer service

FEMA residence, tax residence and immigration status are three different tests and they disagree.

Your visa says what you may do; the Income Tax Act counts days in an April-to-March year; FEMA looks at whether you have come to India to take up employment or to stay for an uncertain period. You can be a tax non-resident and a FEMA resident in the same week. The bank cares only about the FEMA answer, so get the classification in writing at account opening.

Source: Reserve Bank of India — FEMA

Your address proof has to be registered here, which changes the sequence.

Maharashtra requires leave-and-licence agreements to be registered, so the document the bank will accept as address proof does not exist until that registration is done. In Gujarat or Uttar Pradesh a notarised agreement is enough. Start the registration the day you agree the tenancy rather than treating it as paperwork to catch up on.

Source: Maharashtra Rent Control Act 1999, section 55

UPI is the one piece of Indian infrastructure unambiguously ahead of what you left.

Instant, free, account-to-account transfers by QR code or phone number, accepted by street vendors and hospitals alike. It requires an Indian bank account and an Indian mobile number linked to it, which is why it lands in week two rather than week one.

Source: National Payments Corporation of India — UPI