FDI & FEMA Compliance for Foreign Investors in India

Entity Choice · FDI Route Analysis · FC-GPR & FC-TRS Reporting · FEMA Compliance · RBI Reporting · Downstream Investment · Exit Entity Choice · FDI Route Analysis · FC-GPR & FC-TRS Reporting · FEMA Compliance · RBI Reporting · Downstream Investment · Exit Entity Choice · FDI Route Analysis · FC-GPR & FC-TRS Reporting · FEMA Compliance · RBI Reporting · Downstream Investment · Exit Entity Choice · FDI Route Analysis · FC-GPR & FC-TRS Reporting · FEMA Compliance · RBI Reporting · Downstream Investment · Exit

The hard part of entering India is not incorporation. It is the sequence: choosing between a subsidiary, a branch, a liaison office and a project office; confirming the sector route and any conditions before capital moves; getting the pricing right; and reporting the investment to the Reserve Bank of India inside the prescribed window. A reporting default is one of the few compliance failures in India that can only be cured through a formal compounding application.

We advise foreign parents and their counsel on establishing and running Indian entities, and then hold the ongoing compliance so that the group's India arm does not become the item that holds up a global audit.

What foreign investors typically need

Entity choice: wholly owned subsidiary, joint venture, branch, liaison or project office

Wholly owned subsidiary, joint venture, branch, liaison or project office — the right structure for the purpose and the sector.

FDI route, sectoral caps and conditions, and government approval where required

Automatic route or government approval — confirmed before capital moves, not after. Sector conditions identified and addressed upfront.

Incorporation, including apostilled documentation and resident-director requirements

Including apostilled documentation, DIN for foreign directors, resident-director requirements and the initial regulatory filings.

FC-GPR, FC-TRS and FLA reporting, and compounding where a default has already occurred

RBI filings for every share issue and transfer, plus the annual FLA return — filed inside the prescribed window. Compounding where a default has already occurred.

Pricing guidelines and valuation coordination for issues and transfers

Coordinating the valuation report and ensuring pricing complies with FEMA guidelines for both issues and transfers of shares.

Downstream investment rules where the Indian entity invests further

Where the Indian entity invests further — the conditions, the approvals and the filings that govern downstream FDI.

Ongoing secretarial compliance in a form the parent's auditors can rely on

In a form the parent's auditors can rely on — annual returns, board process, statutory registers and every event-based filing.

Exit — share transfer, repatriation, closure of the office or liquidation of the entity

Share transfer, repatriation, closure of the office or liquidation of the entity — managed from start to finish.

India entry and FEMA compliance for foreign investors