Setting up Business in India – What Foreign Companies Must Know

Foreign companies may set up business in India in any one of pursuing manners while retaining its status as the foreign company:

Liaison Offices – A foreign company can open a liaison office in India to handle its Indian operations, to promote its business interests, to spread awareness of the company’s products and to explore further avenues. Liaison offices are not allowed to persevere any business or earn any income in India and every one expenses are in order to become borne by remittances from abroad.

Project Offices – The project office is the ideal method for companies to establish a business presence in India, if the object is to have a presence for minimal period of a period of time. It is essentially a branch office make with the Limited Liability Partnerhsip Registration Online India purpose for executing a specific problem. Foreign companies engaged in turnkey construction or installation normally put in a project office for their operations in India.

Branch Offices – Foreign companies engaged in manufacturing and trading activities outside India may open branch offices for extra of:

oRepresenting the parent company or other foreign companies in various matters in India, like acting as buying and selling agents.

oConducting research, during which the parent company is engaged, provided the final results of this research are made there for Indian companies

oUndertaking export and import trading games.

oPromoting technical and financial collaborations between Indian and foreign companies.

Trading companies – Foreign companies may invest in trading companies engaged primarily in exports. Such trading companies are treated at par with domestic trading companies in accordance with the trade policy.

The RBI accords automatic approval for foreign equity as much 51 per cent for setting up trading companies engaged primarily in exports. All other proposals, which do not meet the criteria for automatic approval, can be addressed to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, i.e. “FIPB”.

Wholly owned subsidiaries – Foreign companies may set up a wholly owned subsidiary, which can be an Indian Company a great independent legal status, distinct from parents foreign company.

Under the current foreign investment policy, a wholly owned subsidiary can be established either the particular automatic route, in the event the conditions specified therein are complied with (specific high priority industries) or obtain an approval from the FIPB.

Joint venture companies – Foreign companies may set up a joint venture company i.e. economical collaboration with an Indian business house/company in India, could be an Indian Company with an independent legal status, distinct from the parent foreign company.

Under the current foreign investment policy, a joint venture can be established either under the automated route, if the stipulations specified therein are complied with or obtain an approval from the FIPB.

Foreign companies intending to build any involving office already mentioned activities on behalf of the parent company or foreign trading companies in India for promotion of exports from India have to obtain a prior approval for the Reserve Bank by submitting an application in the prescribed form to the Central Office of Reserve Bank. On approval of cases, permission is granted initially for your period of 3 years, foreclosures the condition that expenses of such office will met exclusively out of inward remittances; such offices are not permitted to create any income in Of india.