SETTING UP
BUSINESS IN INDIA
FOREIGN COMPANY
INCORPORATION IN INDIA
SUBSIDIARY
COMPANY REGISTRATION IN INDIA
First
thing which comes to anybody’s mind is why set up business in India? Well,
presently, India is one of the fastest growing economies of the world.
Every
year, more and more foreign companies are setting up business
in India.
Also, it is an attractive foreign
investment destination in the world due to following factors:
a) Vast range of industries,
b) Availability of skilled and unskilled manpower,
c) Huge middle class consumer base,
d) Second highest English speaking population,
e) Ease of doing business and
f) Government initiative for attracting foreign investment
and adoption of best practices in production of goods and services.
Let’s deep dive more and explore some more
facts about India.
Facts about India
1) It is world’s largest democracy
2) It is highly populated, only next to China with 1.38
Billion People
3)
It is second largest English speaking country
in world.
4)
It
has huge market in terms of huge middle class consumer base of 500 million
people with good purchasing power
5)
Fourth
largest automobile industry in world and by 2026, it will be in no. 3 position
6)
Second
largest telecommunication market in world with subscriber base of 1.18 Billion
7)
World’s
largest offshoring destination for IT companies across the globe. Estimated
revenue from ITES AND BPO was USD 135 Billion
8)
Total
FDI in FY 2018-19 was approx. USD 45 Billion. Major countries are Japan,
Singapore and Mauritius.
9)
World’s
5th Largest global destination in RETAIL space
10) Majority of the
Fortune 500 companies have R&D centre and or assembly line in India
All
the aforesaid factors have contributed to attracting foreign investment and leading to more and more foreign
company incorporation in India.
Options
available for Foreign Companies/Foreign Citizens to set up business in India
Foreign
companies have following options to set up business in India, namely
a)
Wholly
Owned Subsidiary Company
b)
Joint
Ventures
c)
Limited
Liability Partnerships
d)
Branch/Liaison/Project
Office
Out
of above, Subsidiary Company
Registration in India is most popular
and tax efficient option.
CORPORTAE TAX
RATES ON ENTITY
a)
PRIVATE LIMITED
COMPANY/ WOS-
Company is liable to tax on global income at different tax rates like 15%, 22%,
25% and 30% depending upon case to case. Also, Subject to MAT @ 15% of book
profits.
b)
LIMITED
LIABILITY PARTNERSHIPS- LLPs are liable to tax on global income @30%.
Further, LLPs are liable for alternate minimum tax @18.5% on its book profits.
c)
BRANCH OFFICE
and PROJECT OFFICE
- Tax rate applicable on income earned in India @ 40% plus surcharge and
education cess
d)
LIAISON OFFICE- Since they
cannot do any business. No Taxes applicable
PROCEDURE
FOR OPENING PRIVATE LIMITED COMPANY OR WOS IN INDIA
1)
Minimum
2 Directors and 2 shareholders required
2)
Atleast
1 Director shall be Indian Resident
3)
Shareholders
can be Company or Individual
4)
First
of all Digital Signature of all Directors are prepared
5)
Second
step is for applying name approval from Registrar of Companies [ROC]
6)
Third
step is drafting of Memorandum and Article of Association and Director
Identification number and other documents and applying for incorporation
7)
Finally,
Certificate of Incorporation [ COI] is obtained
8)
Once
COI is obtained, Bank account need to be opened
9)
Then
share subscription money is brought in bank account
10)
Reserve
Bank of India, Indian apex Bank for regulating foreign exchange need to be
intimated about receipt of FDI from foreign company/foreign citizen
Time taken in entire process-
Approx. 3-4
weeks
Documents required
1)
KYC
Documents of Directors and shareholders- Passport, utility bills, Bank
statements, ID proofs
2)
Indian
address proof of business premises
3)
Photos
of Directors
4)
Mobile
and email ids of Directors
5)
Certificate
of registration of parent company
All documents of foreign director/ foreign
shareholder need to be notarized and apostiled in home country. Further, if
documents are not in English, English translation also need to be notarized and
apostiled.