Everything an NRI, a foreign company or a foreign investor needs to start and run a business in India – the entity routes, the FEMA and RBI rulebook, transfer pricing for cost centres, and the filings that keep it all clean. Written by a practising Indian chartered accountant, kept current, and free.
Start where you are
Register and own an Indian company from abroad – documents, resident director, and the FEMA basis decision that removes most paperwork.
NRI registration guideThe wholly-owned subsidiary playbook: incorporation, capitalisation with FC-GPR, and the GCC/cost-centre operating model.
Subsidiary guideRepatriable FDI vs the deemed-domestic non-repatriation basis – the choice that decides caps, pricing rules and RBI filings.
Investment basis guideSubsidiary vs LLP vs branch vs liaison vs project office – one honest grid, then a chooser by mission.
Entity comparisonChoosing the entry route
The default vehicle – 100% FDI, domestic tax rates, full activity freedom, venture-ready.
Open the guide100% automatic in qualifying sectors, single layer of tax, light compliance – the services-practice favourite.
Open the guideOperate as the foreign parent directly – eligibility tests, Form FNC, permitted activities and the PE trap.
Open the guideThe NRI-specific walkthrough – apostille, resident director, funding from NRE/NRO, and running it from abroad.
Open the guideThe rules that decide everything
Land-border country investment: the new 10% automatic window, PMLA-aligned beneficial ownership, 60-day fast track.
Open the guideThe rewritten rules from 1 April 2026: one margin, ₹2,000 crore threshold, five-year election, data-centre category.
Open the guideThe NRI superpower: deemed-domestic investment with no caps, no pricing rules and no FC-GPR.
Open the guideThe FEMA rulebook and RBI filings library
The complete machinery behind every foreign investment – the policy, the instruments, and a dedicated guide for each RBI form with its deadline, documents and late-fee exposure.
Routes, the 2026 caps table, prohibited sectors and how the NDI Rules fit together.
Open the guideWhen government approval is needed, the NSWS process and the 12-week SOP timeline.
Open the guideEquity, CCPS, CCDs, warrants, convertible notes – and the Rule 21 pricing rules.
Open the guideWhen your Indian company’s own investments count as FDI – and Form DI.
Open the guideThe registration sequence every filing depends on – set it up before the money moves.
Open the guideReport share issues to foreign investors within 30 days – documents and flow.
Open the guideReport resident↔non-resident share transfers within 60 days – pricing and gifts.
Open the guideThe 15-July census every entity with FDI must file – FLAIR portal walkthrough.
Open the guideForeign loans rewritten: USD 1bn/300% net-worth limit, NRI lenders, 3-year maturity.
Open the guideThe LLP equivalents of FC-GPR and FC-TRS, plus the full SMF form family.
Open the guideThe LSF matrix with a calculator, and the 2024 compounding process end to end.
Open the guidePick your event and date – get every RBI deadline that flows from it.
Open the guideSoftware exporters and Startup India
The export-compliance layer every IT business needs – and the Startup India stack for founders, Indian and NRI alike.
STP scheme vs the non-STP registration every software exporter needs – with the current fee slabs.
Open the guideThe 30-day export declaration – and the switch to the new EDF from 1 October 2026.
Open the guideWhere to run a software export business now that the tax holidays are gone.
Open the guideThe 2026 rules: ₹200 crore limit, Deep Tech category, and the free application.
Open the guide100% deduction for 3 of 10 years – IMB odds, the MAT trap and timing the window.
Open the guideThe full verified list – seed fund, credit guarantees, rebates, and what lapsed.
Open the guideWhat died with 56(2)(viib) – and the three regimes that still police your round.
Open the guideRun the subsidiary and take profits home
The operating manual – the compliance rhythm, the transfer-pricing engine, and every route for getting value back to the shareholders, with the tax on each.
The statutory sequence after incorporation – board, auditor, capital, FC-GPR, INC-20A.
Open the guideEvery filing across MCA, tax, GST, RBI and payroll – monthly, quarterly, annual.
Open the guideRealistic 2026 budgets by company size – and where cheap goes expensive.
Open the guideThe four operating models, cities, incentives and tax rails of the 2,117-centre boom.
Open the guideAEs, TNMM, 3CEB and the thresholds – what every captive controller must know.
Open the guideHow a captive prices, invoices and collects from its parent without disputes.
Open the guideNine years of negotiated certainty – and when it beats the 15.5% safe harbour.
Open the guideDividend, buyback, royalty and exits – the tax on each route after the 2024 and 2026 rewrites.
Open the guideDomestic vs treaty withholding for 10 countries – and your net remittance.
Open the guideWhich business income goes into which account – and the USD 1 million exit.
Open the guideECB, director loans, deposits, CCDs – the 2026 decision matrix.
Open the guidePick your industry and your country
Sector-specific entry notes and country-specific playbooks – the final layer of this hub – plus the free Excel workbook that turns all of it into numbers.
100% FDI, STPI and SoftEx, export GST and DPDP – the full compliance map.
Open the guideMarketplace vs inventory – what foreign capital can and cannot do, including export e-commerce.
Open the guidePA, PPI, NBFC and account aggregator – capital norms and realistic timelines.
Open the guideFDI rules, PLI schemes and state capital subsidies – where the incentives stack.
Open the guideDTAA rates, GILTI/NCTI notes and the step-by-step US-to-India playbook.
Open the guideCEPA, the India–UAE treaty and NRI funding routes from the Gulf.
Open the guideHolding-company logic, the capital-gains protocol and GIFT City options.
Open the guideCETA in force, treaty rates and the social-security exemption for secondees.
Open the guideFree download – setup costs, annual budget, cost-plus tax and the board-deck summary, all formula-driven.
Download the workbookFree tools that pair with these guides
Schedule III financials for your subsidiary – and the new ICAI format for LLPs and firms – from a trial balance. Free for FY 2025-26.
Open the app110 licence-by-business guides for what comes after incorporation – FSSAI to IEC to state registrations.
Open the libraryDraft the object clause for your SPICe+ filing in minutes, by business type.
Open the toolWant it handled end to end?
Entity setup, FEMA filings, transfer pricing and the ongoing compliance calendar for foreign-owned businesses – one accountable team.
Talk to My Cloud AccountantFrequently asked questions
Can a foreigner own 100% of an Indian company?
Yes – in most sectors 100% foreign ownership is allowed under the automatic route, with post-facto RBI reporting (FC-GPR). A minority of sectors carry caps or need government approval, and land-border-country investors have a special screening framework.
Do NRIs have any advantage over other foreign investors?
A big one: the non-repatriation basis, under which their investment is treated as domestic – no sectoral caps, pricing guidelines or FC-GPR. It is exclusive to NRIs and OCIs.
What does a foreign-owned company file with RBI every year?
The FLA return by 15 July, plus event-based filings: FC-GPR within 30 days of any allotment to foreign holders, FC-TRS on transfers, and ECB returns where the company borrows offshore. The filings library (coming next in this hub) covers each form step by step.
Is India still attractive for cost centres after the tax changes?
More than before: the 2026 safe-harbour reset gives a 15.5% cost-plus margin with five-year certainty to most GCCs – see the safe harbour guide.
Hub maintained by CA Tirumalesh Malla · guides fact-checked against the FEMA (NDI) Rules as amended 2026, Companies Act 2013 and Income-tax Act 2025. Last reviewed: July 2026.