International Businesses

Doing business in India, with one partner who joins every thread

Entering India means answering to several regulators at once — the FDI framework and FEMA, the RBI and your bank, the income-tax and GST authorities, and the Registrar of Companies. We are chartered accountants who take a foreign parent or investor from the first entry decision through to a clean, compliant steady state, so the FEMA, tax and company-law pieces move as one plan rather than as separate scrambles.

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Built for foreign CFOs and their advisers — clear scope, clear ownership, and one accountable point of contact on the ground in India.

Why India feels hard

Not one rule — several systems judging the same decision

An unfamiliar regime, and several regulators at once

India routes a single investment through multiple gatekeepers — the FDI policy and FEMA govern how foreign capital comes in, the RBI and your authorised-dealer bank take the reporting, the income-tax and GST authorities tax the operation, and the Registrar of Companies takes the corporate filings. No one of them sees the whole picture, so a foreign parent has to. We hold that whole picture for you.

FEMA and RBI reporting is easy to miss and expensive to fix

Foreign investment triggers time-bound filings — Form FC-GPR when your Indian company allots shares to you, Form FC-TRS when shares move between a resident and a non-resident, and the annual FLA return. These run on strict clocks through the RBI's FIRMS portal, and a late or missed filing typically has to be regularised through compounding before the next step can proceed.

Permanent-establishment and transfer-pricing exposure creep in quietly

How your India presence is staffed and run can create a permanent establishment that pulls more profit into the Indian tax net than you expected. Every dealing with the parent or a group company is a related-party transaction that must be at arm's length and reported in the accountant's report (Form 48 under the Income-tax Act, 2025) — and priced wrong, it becomes an adjustment, interest and penalty years later.

Getting money out is harder than getting it in

Repatriating dividends, service fees, royalties or interest to the parent is permitted, but each payment sits at the intersection of FEMA, the pricing rules and withholding tax under Section 393 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (formerly Section 195), read with the treaty. Without the treaty documentation and remittance certification lined up in advance, funds get held up at the bank or over-taxed at source.

A compliance calendar that nobody local owns

Once you are live, ROC filings, income-tax and TDS returns, GST returns, the FEMA annual return and transfer-pricing certification all recur on their own dates. When they are spread across a company secretary here, a bookkeeper there and no single owner, deadlines slip — and in India a missed filing is rarely a quiet miss.

You want one accountable India partner, not five vendors

Foreign CFOs tell us the real problem is fragmentation — a lawyer for incorporation, someone else for FEMA, a third for tax, a fourth for payroll — none of whom answer for the others. You want one firm that owns the outcome end to end and gives you a single, straight answer.

What we do

The India-entry lifecycle, end to end

From the entry decision to steady-state compliance and, when the time comes, a clean exit — one team across FEMA, tax and company law.

Choosing the right entry vehicle

We help you pick the structure that fits your India plan and time horizon — a wholly-owned subsidiary or joint-venture company for a full operating presence, an LLP where the sector and structure suit it, or a branch, liaison (representative) or project office for a lighter footprint. Each carries very different FEMA treatment, tax profile and compliance load, and we map those trade-offs before you commit.

Liaison, branch and project offices — where each fits

A liaison office can act only as a communication channel — it cannot carry on commercial or trading activity or earn income in India, is funded entirely by inward remittances from the parent, and files a CA-certified Annual Activity Certificate each year; a branch office can undertake defined business activities; a project office suits execution of a specific contract. All three are set up with RBI/authorised-dealer-bank approval through Form FNC, so we scope the right one to what you actually intend — not one that quietly breaches its permitted activities.

FDI & FEMA structuring

We position your investment correctly under the FDI framework — confirming whether your sector sits on the automatic route, which needs no prior government approval, or the government (approval) route, and checking the applicable sectoral conditions and any caps. We build the investment to respect the FEMA pricing guidelines on entry and exit, so the valuation supporting your share issue or transfer stands up.

RBI / AD-bank reporting

We manage the FEMA reporting cycle on the RBI's FIRMS portal — Form FC-GPR when your Indian company allots shares to you, Form FC-TRS when shares transfer between a resident and a non-resident, and the annual FLA return capturing foreign liabilities and assets — each filed on time, on the right form, through the right channel.

Tax registrations & setup

We put the operating registrations in place in the right order — PAN and TAN for the entity, GST registration, the Importer-Exporter Code (IEC) for cross-border trade, and EPF/ESI and professional-tax registrations once you have people on the ground — so the company can invoice, pay, deduct tax and run payroll from day one.

Transfer pricing for related-party dealings

Every transaction with the parent or a group company — management fees, cost recharges, royalties, intra-group services, financing — must be at arm's length. We set defensible pricing and prepare the documentation, including the accountant's report in Form 48 (the transfer-pricing report under the Income-tax Act, 2025, the successor to Form 3CEB), and handle the master file and Country-by-Country reporting where the prescribed thresholds are met.

Permanent-establishment risk & DTAA relief

We assess whether your model creates a permanent establishment in India and how much profit that would attribute here, then structure roles, contracts and substance to keep the position clean — and apply the relevant Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement so you are not taxed twice on the same income.

Withholding tax on cross-border payments to the parent

Payments to the parent — royalty, fees for technical services, interest, dividend — are subject to withholding under Section 393 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (the successor to Section 195), read with the applicable treaty. We determine the correct rate, secure the position with a Tax Residency Certificate and Form 10F, and complete the accountant's remittance certificate (Form 146) so tax is deducted at the right rate and the money can leave.

Repatriation of profits and dividends

We plan how value returns to the parent — dividends, service and royalty fees, interest on shareholder debt, or exit proceeds — so each route is FEMA-compliant, priced within the guidelines and cleared through your bank with the tax and documentation resolved before the remittance, not after it is stuck.

Ongoing India compliance

We run the recurring calendar as one owned obligation — Registrar of Companies filings, income-tax and TDS returns, GST returns, the FEMA annual return and transfer-pricing certification — so nothing depends on a foreign CFO remembering an Indian due date.

Internal audit, designed around your business

An internal audit is only useful to a foreign-owned operation if it is built around how you actually run. We start from your own MIS and group reporting needs and the Indian laws that apply to your entity, then design the audit scope, the controls we test and the procedures to fit — so headquarters gets assurance it can read, in the format your group expects, over the risks that genuinely matter to your India operation. Not a template dropped on top of you.

A clean exit or wind-down

When a venture ends or restructures, we handle the orderly route out — the FEMA-compliant transfer or buy-back and its FC-TRS reporting and pricing, closing the branch or liaison office with the RBI, settling tax and closing registrations, and striking off or liquidating the entity — so you leave India cleanly rather than leaving loose ends behind.

Our signature

One India partner, from the entry decision to steady state

India's difficulty is not any single rule — it is that FEMA, tax and company law are separate systems that all judge the same decision, and most foreign entrants meet them one vendor at a time. We act as the single India partner who joins those threads: the entry vehicle you choose drives your FEMA route, which drives your RBI reporting, which interacts with your transfer pricing, your permanent-establishment position and how you will one day get money out. We hold all of it in one view, own the outcome, and give a foreign CFO one accountable person to call.

Plan your India entry

Who we do this for

Foreign companies and investors, at every stage of entry

Foreign parents opening an Indian subsidiaryOverseas companies incorporating a wholly-owned subsidiary and needing the entry, FEMA, tax and compliance set-up handled as one project.

Multinational groupsMNCs establishing or expanding an India operation, with transfer pricing, permanent-establishment and treaty considerations across the group.

Overseas groups pulling in an Indian armGroups bringing an existing or new Indian entity under the parent through a share issue or transfer, needing the FEMA reporting and valuation done right.

Foreign investors and fundsInvestors deploying capital into Indian companies who need the FDI route, pricing guidelines, FC-GPR/FC-TRS reporting and exit planning covered.

Companies testing the marketForeign businesses entering through a liaison, branch or project office to explore India before committing to a full operating subsidiary.

Exporters to India setting up locallyOverseas manufacturers and suppliers moving from selling into India to a local presence — registrations, IEC, GST and the FEMA and tax framework around it.

How it works

Enter, set up, then run and repatriate

Entry plan and structure

We start with what you want to do in India and for how long, then recommend the entry vehicle and the FDI route, confirm the sectoral position and the approvals or reporting each choice triggers, and give you a clear map of the set-up ahead.

Set-up and inward investment

We put the entity, registrations and bank relationship in place, structure the inward investment within the FEMA pricing rules, and complete the RBI reporting — so your capital lands and your operation is live and compliant from the start.

Run, report and repatriate

We own the recurring calendar — ROC, income tax, TDS, GST, FEMA annual and transfer-pricing filings — and plan how profits and fees return to the parent with withholding and treaty relief resolved in advance, right through to a clean exit if and when you need one.

Why Agarwal M & Co.

An India partner a foreign CFO can rely on

The whole regime under one roof

FEMA and RBI reporting, income tax and GST, transfer pricing and treaty relief, and company-law filings — handled by one firm that sees how each affects the others, not four vendors who each see only their slice.

Built for a foreign CFO

We work the way an overseas finance team needs — plain answers, defined scope, one point of contact, and an eye on how each India step reads back to headquarters and its auditors.

Reporting owned, not outsourced to memory

The FC-GPR, FC-TRS, FLA, the transfer-pricing report (Form 48) and annual filings run on India's clocks. We own those dates so a missed FEMA or tax deadline never becomes the reason your next step stalls.

Chartered accountants who own the outcome

As a CA firm we take end-to-end responsibility for the numbers, the filings and the position — including the CA-certified pieces India requires — so you have one accountable partner standing behind the whole engagement.

Questions

Frequently asked

Which entry vehicle should we use to enter India?

It depends on what you intend to do and for how long. A wholly-owned subsidiary or joint-venture company suits a full, revenue-earning operating presence; an LLP can work where the sector and structure allow it; a liaison office suits a non-commercial representative presence; a branch office suits defined business activity; and a project office suits a specific contract. Each carries different FEMA treatment, tax exposure and compliance load — we map those against your plan before you commit, rather than defaulting to a subsidiary in every case.

Do we need government approval to invest, or can we just come in?

Under India's FDI framework, most sectors are open on the automatic route, which needs no prior government approval — you simply complete the FEMA reporting after investing. Some sensitive sectors sit on the government (approval) route, and some carry sectoral conditions or caps; investment from certain countries — for example those sharing a land border with India — can also carry additional approval requirements. We confirm exactly where your specific sector and investor sit before any money moves, so you are not relying on a general rule that may not apply to you.

What RBI and FEMA reporting will our Indian company have to do?

The core filings run through the RBI's FIRMS portal. Form FC-GPR is filed when your Indian company allots shares to you, Form FC-TRS when shares transfer between a resident and a non-resident, and the FLA return is filed annually to report foreign liabilities and assets. Each runs on a defined timeline, and we manage the cycle so nothing is filed late — because a missed FEMA filing usually has to be regularised before your next step can proceed.

How is a liaison office different from a branch office?

A liaison (representative) office can act only as a communication channel between the parent and parties in India — it cannot carry on commercial or trading activity or earn income here, is funded by inward remittances from the parent, and files a CA-certified Annual Activity Certificate each year. A branch office can undertake defined business activities. Both are set up with RBI/authorised-dealer-bank approval through Form FNC and carry their own reporting. Choosing the wrong one, or having a liaison office drift into activity it is not permitted to do, creates a real FEMA problem — so we scope it to what you actually intend.

What are the tax and transfer-pricing implications of dealing with our parent?

Every transaction between your Indian entity and the parent or a group company is a related-party (associated-enterprise) dealing that must be at arm's length, supported by documentation and reported in the accountant's report — Form 48 under the Income-tax Act, 2025 (the successor to Form 3CEB). Where the prescribed thresholds are met, master file and Country-by-Country reporting also apply. Separately, how your India presence is run can create a permanent establishment that changes how much profit is taxed here. We handle the pricing, the documentation and the PE position together, with treaty relief applied where available.

How do we get profits and fees back to the parent?

Value returns to the parent as dividends, service or royalty fees, interest on shareholder loans, or exit proceeds — each permitted, but each governed by FEMA, the pricing guidelines and withholding tax under Section 393 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (formerly Section 195), read with the applicable treaty. To apply the treaty rate rather than the higher domestic rate, the parent generally needs a Tax Residency Certificate and Form 10F, and the remittance needs the accountant's certificate (Form 146). We line up the tax position and documentation before the payment, so funds clear the bank at the right rate instead of getting held up or over-taxed.

Can you run an internal audit of our India operation for the parent?

Yes — and we build it around your business rather than off a fixed checklist. We begin with your own MIS and group reporting requirements and the Indian laws that apply to your entity, then design the audit scope, the controls and processes we test, and the reporting format to match. The result is assurance your headquarters and group auditors can read in the form they expect, focused on the risks that actually matter to your India operation — whether that is procurement and vendor controls, payroll and statutory dues, revenue and receivables, or FEMA and tax compliance.

Let’s talk

A confident next step is one conversation away

Tell us what you’re working on and we’ll help you see the clearest path forward — no pressure, just clarity.