“What does an Indian subsidiary cost to run each year?” is the question every CFO asks before signing off on the entity – and the honest answer is “far less than the US or EU, but more than the ₹25,000 the ads promise”. The compliance machine described in our calendar has a price. Here are realistic 2026 market ranges by company size, what drives the fee up, and where cheap goes expensive.
The line items
| Service | Micro/domestic-grade pricing | Foreign-subsidiary realistic range |
|---|---|---|
| Accounting & monthly closing | ₹2,000–10,000/month | ₹25,000–60,000/month retainer (multi-currency, parent-format reporting, audit trail discipline) |
| Statutory audit | ₹10,000–30,000 | ₹75,000–3 lakh+ (group-reporting deliverables, CARO, IFRS pack support) |
| ROC / company-secretarial | ₹5,000–15,000/yr | ₹25,000–75,000/yr (board minutes, registers, DPT-3, BEN-2, event filings) |
| GST compliance + export refunds | ₹12,000–50,000/yr | ₹50,000–1.5 lakh/yr; ITC refund applications often priced per claim |
| Payroll processing | ₹50–200 per employee per month + base fee; PF/ESI/PT filings included at the upper end | |
| TP study + Form 3CEB | ₹25,000–75,000 (template-grade) | ₹1.5–6 lakh for defensible benchmarking; Big-4 upward of ₹5 lakh |
| FEMA filings (FLA, FC-GPR events) | — | ₹15,000–50,000/yr depending on event count |
| Registered office (virtual) | ₹12,000–60,000/yr metro | |
Total annual budget by profile
| Profile | Realistic total (professional + statutory) |
|---|---|
| Dormant/holding shell (no employees, no GST activity) | ₹1–2 lakh |
| Small services subsidiary, 5–25 staff, cost-plus | ₹3–8 lakh |
| Growing GCC, 25–100 staff, refunds + TP depth | ₹8–20 lakh (mid-tier firm/network) |
| Large captive, 100+ staff, Big-4 stack | ₹20 lakh+ |
What moves the fee
- Transaction volume and states: multi-state GST registrations multiply returns; high invoice counts raise bookkeeping tiers;
- Refund intensity: a zero-rated exporter claiming ITC refunds quarterly buys real professional time – but the refunds dwarf the fees;
- TP posture: a ₹50,000 template study is cheap until a TPO reads it. Defensible benchmarking – or the 15.5% safe harbour, which trades a slightly higher margin for near-zero dispute risk – is where captives should spend;
- Group reporting cadence: monthly IFRS packs, audit-trail configuration and parent-auditor coordination sit above domestic-grade retainers;
- Events: capital raises (FC-GPR + valuations), ESOP grants, and ECB drawdowns are priced per event – budget separately in raise years.
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Talk to My Cloud AccountantFrequently asked questions
How much does it cost to maintain a private limited subsidiary in India?
A dormant entity runs about ₹1–2 lakh a year; a small operating subsidiary ₹3–8 lakh with a specialist firm; a growing GCC ₹8–20 lakh. Domestic micro-company pricing of ₹25,000–60,000 exists but rarely covers the FEMA, TP and group-reporting layer a foreign subsidiary needs.
What is the single biggest professional cost?
Usually the transfer-pricing study and Form 3CEB – ₹1.5–6 lakh for defensible benchmarking. The monthly accounting retainer is the biggest recurring line.
Are Indian compliance costs material in the GCC business case?
No – at USD 4,000–25,000 a year they are a rounding error against the 40–60% salary arbitrage on even a 10-person team. Office space and salaries dominate the India budget.
Can we use the parent’s auditor in India?
The statutory audit must be by an Indian-registered chartered accountant firm, but network member firms of the parent’s auditor commonly take the appointment – at network pricing. Many subsidiaries pair a local statutory auditor with the network firm for group reporting instead.
Ranges compiled from published 2026 practitioner pricing and market experience; they are indicative, not quotations. Last reviewed: July 2026.