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Setting up

FDI routes and caps, entry vehicles, approvals, incorporation, land-border rules and the FEMA filings that follow.

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Cover of the IMC brief: Setting up

In this guide

In this guide

7 pages.

FDI routes and caps

FDI routes and sector caps

Most sectors are open to 100% foreign ownership without prior approval. Caps and the government route still apply in banking, defence, multi-brand retail and a few others, and seven activities remain prohibited.

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Entry vehicles

Entry vehicles compared

Most foreign companies enter through a wholly owned private limited subsidiary. LLPs, branch, liaison and project offices suit narrower purposes, and a distributor or employer of record lets a business test the market before it forms an entity.

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Set-up roadmap

Setting up a company: the ten-step roadmap

Incorporating a foreign-owned private limited company in an automatic-route sector follows ten steps. Only a few have fixed time limits set by rule: share allotment, FC-GPR reporting, commencement of business and automated GST registration.

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Land-border investors

Investors from land-border countries

Investment from an entity or citizen of a country sharing a land border with India, or with such a beneficial owner, needs government approval. Press Note 2 of 2026 opened a report-first path within 10% and a 60-day fast track in listed sectors.

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Approvals and timelines

Approvals and timelines

On the automatic route there is no prior FDI approval, only reporting. Government-route and land-border proposals have decision targets, and a handful of filings carry fixed deadlines. Sector licences add their own steps, and their timing varies by state and case.

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FEMA calendar

FEMA compliance calendar

A foreign-owned company or LLP reports most capital movements to RBI within fixed windows, files an annual FLA return by 15 July and must report downstream investments. Land-border cases add a report before any money moves.

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Incorporation

Incorporating the Indian entity

Incorporation runs through one integrated SPICe+ filing with the Registrar's Central Registration Centre, after the parent's documents are apostilled and a digital signature is obtained. The certificate brings the CIN, PAN and TAN, and three fixed deadlines then start to run.

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Updates

Recent changes

All changes
  1. Press Note 3 of 2026 allows inventory e-commerce for exports of Indian goodsFDI policy · DPIIT Press Note 3 (2026); EY, 25 Sep 2026
    medium impact
  2. medium impact
  3. Non-resident individuals may buy listed shares without FPI registrationFDI policy · RBI Master Direction, Foreign Investment in India (updated to 15 Jun 2026)
    low impact
  4. DPIIT procedure sets a 12-week target for government-route FDI decisionsFDI policy · DPIIT/FIFP SOP for Processing FDI Proposals, 4 May 2026
    medium impact
  5. Press Note 2 of 2026 eases the land-border rule and adds a 60-day routeFDI policy · DPIIT Press Note 2 (2026), 15 Mar 2026
    high impact

Get in touch

Talk to an adviser about setting up

Tell us what you are planning. An IMC adviser will reply to arrange a discovery conversation.

  1. Schedule a discovery conversationShare your plans, timeline and the questions you need answered.
  2. Receive a tailored planAn entry and investment plan built around your structure and sector.
  3. Navigate, expand and succeedOne accountable point of contact from first filing to steady state.

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We reply by email to arrange a discovery conversation.