AMLEGALS advises foreign companies on market entry into India. Foreign investment is permitted on the automatic route in most sectors, meaning the investor reports after the capital arrives rather than seeking prior approval. The most common vehicle is a wholly owned subsidiary incorporated as a private limited company under the Companies Act 2013, which can be incorporated in three to five weeks but typically requires eight to twelve weeks before it can lawfully invoice and pay salaries, once the authorised dealer bank account, FC-GPR reporting under FEMA, state-wise GST registration and payroll registrations are complete. Every Indian private company needs at least two directors, one of whom must have stayed in India for at least 182 days in the financial year. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 applies from the first hire because employee data is personal data. AMLEGALS has been in practice since 1998 and operates from ten offices in India: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Prayagraj, Pune, Surat and Vadodara. Contact +91-8448548549.
Inbound investment · FDI · FEMA · Structuring
Enter India without a regulatory surprise.
India rewards the prepared and punishes the improvised. The statute does not change after you land — your reading of it does. We structure the entry so that year two is as clean as year one.
Request an entry assessment
Compare entry structures
The four questions that decide everything
Get these wrong and you restructure in year two — at four times the cost of getting them right now.
The short answer
Most foreign investors enter India through a wholly owned subsidiary incorporated as a private limited company under the Companies Act 2013, on the automatic route, which means the investment is reported after the capital arrives rather than approved before it. Incorporation takes three to five weeks. Being able to invoice and pay salaries lawfully takes eight to twelve, once the bank account, FC-GPR reporting under FEMA, state-wise GST registration and payroll registrations are complete.
01 Two directors, one resident in India for 182+ days
02 FC-GPR within 30 days of allotment
03 GST registration per state of supply
04 DPDPA applies from the first hire
{{ c.value }}
{{ c.label }}
FILM
India entry in ninety seconds
{{ filmPlayLabel }}
Chapter 01 · States and union territories
28
India is not one jurisdiction.
Labour, land, stamp duty and the courts are all state matters. Where you land changes what you owe.
Chapter 02 · Foreign investment routes
2
Two ways in.
Automatic route: you report after the money arrives. Government route: you ask before it does.
Automatic route
Most sectors
Government route
Listed sectors only
Chapter 03 · Entry structures available
6
Six vehicles. One is yours.
Liaison office, branch, subsidiary, joint venture, LLP or acquisition. Choose on lifetime tax and exit cost, never on setup cost.
Chapter 04 · The entry roadmap
8
Eight stages to a lawful invoice.
Board approval to first invoice. Sequenced properly, eight to twelve weeks — not the two weeks the certificate suggests.
Chapter 05 · Year one, month by month
12
Year one is a calendar.
Entries do not fail at incorporation. They fail in month eighteen, on a recurring filing nobody was named to own.
Chapter 06 · AMLEGALS India Entry practice
1
One file. One partner accountable.
The person who gave you the structure advice signs the filings and takes the call when the notice arrives.
Enter India without a regulatory surprise
A ninety-second orientation, not advice. Figures are indicative and must be verified as on the date of your transaction.
Three answers. One recommended vehicle.
A working model of the first conversation we have with every inbound client. Indicative only — the operative answer turns on your sector, your money flow and your exit.
{{ o.label }}
{{ o.hint }}
Reset selection
Indicative recommendation
{{ rec.title }}
{{ rec.tag }}
{{ rec.body }}
Where it usually goes wrong
{{ rec.risk }}
From board approval to first lawful invoice.
Eight stages, sequenced. Select any stage to see the deliverables, the authority you file with, and the failure mode we see most often.
{{ s.n }}
{{ s.short }}
{{ s.days }}
{{ step.title }}
{{ step.body }}
Authority you file with
Failure mode
{{ step.risk }}
03
Compliance readiness diagnostic
Year one is where entries quietly break.
Incorporation is a week of work. Staying incorporated is a calendar. Tick what your India entity already has in place.
{{ c.mark }}
{{ c.label }}
{{ c.detail }}
{{ c.cadence }}
04
Who you will answer to
Eight regulators. One coordinated file.
{{ r.abbr }}
{{ r.name }}
{{ r.role }}
Everything the entry touches, under one file.
{{ p.n }}
{{ p.title }}
{{ p.body }}
We speak your home regulator's language too.
A German board paper, a Japanese ringi, a US audit memo and an Indian board resolution are not the same document. Our desks translate the decision, not just the words — then hand your headquarters a file it can actually approve.
{{ d.region }}
{{ d.name }}
{{ d.note }}
07
Questions we are asked first
08
Timeline and obligation estimator
Four inputs. An honest picture of the workload.
Indicative ranges based on how mandates of this shape typically run. It is an orientation tool, not a quotation, and not advice on your matter.
Vehicle
Selected: {{ estSel.vehicle }}
States you will supply from
Selected: {{ estSel.states }}
India headcount in year one
Selected: {{ estSel.people }}
Personal data of customers
Selected: {{ estSel.data }}
Goods crossing the border
Selected: {{ estSel.goods }}
Indicative output
{{ est.weeks }}
Weeks to first lawful invoice
{{ est.regs }}
Registrations at entry
{{ est.filings }}
Recurring filings in year one
Workstreams engaged
Ranges and counts are indicative, derived from how comparable mandates typically run, and will differ on your facts. They are not a fee quotation, not a commitment on timelines, and not legal advice. Statutory positions must be verified as on the date of your transaction.
How this work runs in practice
The shape of the work, in three profiles.
{{ practiceLead }}
{{ m.sector }}
{{ m.home }}
{{ m.work }}
Where it landed
{{ m.outcome }}
{{ mandateNote }}
09
Entry readiness enquiry
{{ enq.stepLabel }}
Five questions, so the first reply is useful.
Most enquiries take three exchanges before anyone can say anything specific. These five answers remove two of them.
{{ enq.question }}
{{ enq.consentMark }}
I consent to AMLEGALS processing the details above for the sole purpose of responding to this enquiry, and I understand that consent may be withdrawn at any time by writing to
[email protected]. I understand that submitting this enquiry does not create an attorney-client relationship, that no advice is given until an engagement is agreed in writing, and that this page is published for general information and is neither an advertisement nor a solicitation.
Your enquiry so far
Completing the five steps opens a pre-filled email to our India Entry practice. Nothing is transmitted from this page until you send it, and no information is stored here.
Send the enquiry
Received. The India Entry practice will respond to the address you provided.
Or write to us directly
+91 84485 48549
10
Briefings and written material
Read us before you retain us.
Material is published for general information. Requesting it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Any personal data you send is processed only to respond to your request and to send the material you have asked for, and you may withdraw that consent at any time by writing to
[email protected].
11
Deep dives — AI, semiconductors, deeptech, engineering
{{ deepTotal }} long-form notes on the sectors that are actually moving.
Each carries three original figures, an at-a-glance panel and what to take from it. Written for the decision, not for the search engine — though they answer the question a decision-maker actually types.
{{ d.keyword }}
{{ d.title }}
3 figures · Read the note →
See all {{ deepTotal }} deep dives →
Knowledge library
{{ libTotal }} notes on entering and operating in India.
Sector by sector, country by country, city by city, obligation by obligation — each note states the position, what it costs to get wrong, and how we run it in practice.
Browse the library →
India entry assessment
A considered read on your entry, before you commit capital.
Structure, sectoral route, tax and FEMA exposure, licence map, employment model, data obligations and the exit you have not yet considered — in one memorandum your board can act on.
Start the conversation
{{ f.label }}
{{ f.placeholder }}
Send enquiry
Or reach us directly
+91 84485 48549
Ahmedabad · Bengaluru · Chennai · Kolkata · Mumbai · New Delhi · Prayagraj · Pune · Surat · Vadodara
Entry structures
Six ways in. Only one of them is yours.
The vehicle you pick sets your tax rate, your repatriation path, your liability wall and how expensive the exit will be. Read the row you think you want, then read the row below it.
{{ r.name }}
{{ r.code }}
{{ r.canDo }}
{{ r.approval }}
{{ r.tax }}
{{ r.setup }}
{{ r.watch }}
Position stated as at September 2026, for orientation only. Rates, thresholds and approval routes change; every position must be verified against the Companies Act 2013, the FEMA regulations, the Consolidated FDI Policy and the Income-tax Act as they stand on the date of your transaction.
Sectoral routes
Your sector decides whether India is a form or a file.
Automatic route means you file after the money arrives. Government route means you ask before it does. That single distinction can move your launch by two quarters.
Sector
Cap
Route
The condition nobody reads
{{ s.name }}
{{ s.cap }}
{{ s.note }}
Caps and routes shown are stated as at September 2026, indicative and simplified for orientation. The operative text is the Consolidated FDI Policy read with the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules and the relevant sectoral regulator's conditions, as amended.
Jurisdiction desks
Same statute. Very different conversation.
A Japanese client wants consensus before commitment. An American client wants indemnities before comfort. A German client wants the compliance matrix before the meeting. We brief each accordingly.
{{ d.name }}
{{ d.region }}
{{ d.body }}
Typical first mandate
{{ d.mandate }}
Engagement model
You should know the shape of the engagement before it begins.
Three ways to work with the India Entry practice. Each has a defined scope and a defined output, with the basis of engagement agreed in writing before work begins.
{{ e.stage }}
{{ e.name }}
{{ e.body }}
{{ i }}
{{ e.fee }}
How the work actually runs.
{{ p.n }}
{{ p.title }}
{{ p.body }}
India at a glance
The market case is settled. The legal case is the work.
Nobody needs convincing that India matters. What they need is a route through it that survives a tax assessment, a labour inspection and a data breach notification.
{{ s.value }}
{{ s.label }}
{{ s.note }}
What has genuinely improved
Figures are indicative macro references drawn from public government and multilateral sources, and are to be independently verified before use in any board paper or investment memorandum.
India entry knowledge library
Every question we are asked, answered once, properly.
Sector notes, jurisdiction guides, city and state briefings, compliance obligations, data protection, employment, contracts, disputes, and corridor briefings that combine a home jurisdiction with an Indian sector family.
{{ libTotal }}
Notes in the library
Each note states the position, what it costs to get wrong, and how we run it in practice.
{{ c.label }}
{{ c.count }}
Showing {{ libShown }} of {{ libTotal }} notes
{{ r.num }}
{{ r.title }}
{{ r.standfirst }}
{{ r.cat }}
→
← Back to the knowledge library
{{ article.cat }}
{{ article.title }}
{{ article.standfirst }}
{{ article.keyword }}
AMLEGALS · India Entry Deep Dive
FIGURE 1
{{ article.hero.title }}
{{ i.n }}
{{ i.label }}
{{ i.note }}
{{ i.n }}
{{ i.label }}
{{ i.note }}
{{ article.hero.yAxis }}
{{ article.hero.xAxis }}
{{ i.label }}
{{ i.note }}
{{ i.label }}
{{ i.note }}
{{ article.hero.caption }}
FIGURE 2
Sector schematic
{{ plateCaption }}
FIGURE 3
{{ article.chart.title }}
{{ i.label }}
{{ i.note }}
{{ i.label }}
{{ i.note }}
{{ article.chart.caption }}
Need this answered on your own facts?
The entry assessment converts a note like this into a position you can put to your board, on a scope agreed in writing before work begins.
Request an assessment
Primary page for this topic
This note is supporting depth. The authoritative page on amlegals.in is:
{{ canonLabel }} →
Related notes
{{ r.title }}
Ask about this note
If the position here touches something you are deciding, write to us and say which part. A specific question gets a specific answer.
Ask a question on this note
Opens a pre-filled email. Writing to us does not create an attorney-client relationship, and no advice is given until an engagement is agreed in writing.
General information only, current as at the date of publication. Statutory positions, caps, routes and timelines change and must be verified as on the date of your transaction. Nothing here is legal advice or an advertisement.
Considering an India entry this year?
Start with the fixed-scope entry assessment, or ask one question and see how we answer it.
Entry assessment
Write to the desk
×
Notice. As per the rules of the Bar Council of India, law firms are not permitted to solicit work or advertise. The material on this page is published for general information only. It is neither an advertisement nor a solicitation, nor does it create an attorney-client relationship. Nothing here constitutes legal advice, and no reader should act on it without taking specific advice on their own facts. Statutory positions, FDI caps, approval routes, tax rates and timelines are indicative, change from time to time, and must be verified as on the date of the transaction.