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How do foreign companies invest in India?
 
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July 24, 2007
What is foreign investment? How does a foreign company invest in India? What are the rules applicable to Resident and Non-Resident Indians when it comes to foreign investment? If you have doubts on any of these or more questions, read on:

I - Foreign Direct Investment

1. What are the forms in which business can be conducted by a foreign company in India?

A foreign company planning to set up business operations in India has the following options:

Such offices can undertake activities permitted under the Foreign Exchange Management (Establishment in India of Branch Office or other place of business) Regulations, 2000.

2. How does a foreign company invest in India? What are the regulations pertaining to issue of shares by Indian companies to foreign collaborators/investors?

Automatic Route

FDI up to 100% is allowed under the automatic route in all activities/sectors except the following which require prior approval of the government:

Government Route

FDI in activities not covered under the automatic route requires prior Government approval and are considered by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), Ministry of Finance. Application can be made in Form FC-IL, which can be downloaded from www.dipp.gov.in. Plain paper applications carrying all relevant details are also accepted. No fee is payable.

General permission of RBI under FEMA

Indian companies having foreign investment approval through FIPB route do not require any further clearance from the Reserve Bank of India for receiving inward remittance and issue of shares to the non-resident investors. The companies are required to notify the concerned regional office of the Reserve Bank of India of receipt of inward remittances within 30 days of such receipt and submit form FC-GPR within 30 days of issue of shares to the non-resident investors.

3. Which are the sectors where FDI is not allowed in India, under the Automatic Route as well as Government Route?

FDI is prohibited under Government as well as Automatic Route for the following sectors:

4. What should be done after investment is made under the Automatic Route or with Government approval?

A two-stage reporting procedure has been introduced for this purpose.

a) Non-resident entity/ies (other than individuals) to whom it has issued shares does / do not have any existing joint venture or technology transfer or trade mark agreement in India in the same field.

b) The company is not investing in an SSI unit & the investment limit of 24 % has been observed/ requisite approvals have been obtained.

c) Shares have been issued on rights basis and the shares are issued to non-residents at a price that is not lower than that at which shares are/were issued to residents.

OR

d) Shares issued are bonus shares.

OR

e) Shares have been issued under a scheme of merger and amalgamation of two or more Indian companies or reconstruction by way of demerger or otherwise of an Indian company, duly approved by a court in India.

5. What are the guidelines for transfer of existing shares from non-residents to residents or residents to non-residents?

Transfer from Non-Resident to Resident:

The term 'transfer' is defined under FEMA as including "sale, purchase, acquisition, mortgage, pledge, gift, loan or any other form of transfer of right, possession or lien."

The FEMA Regulations give specific permission covering the following forms of transfer i.e. transfer by way of sale and gift. These permissions are discussed below:

A: Transfer by way of sale:

A person resident outside India can freely transfer share/convertible debenture by way of sale to a person resident in India as under:

B: Transfer by way of Gift:

A person resident outside India can freely transfer share/convertible debenture by way of gift to a person resident in India as under:

Transfer from Resident to Non-Resident:

A: Transfer by way of sale - General Permission under Regulation 10 of Notification No. FEMA 20/2000-RB dated May 3, 2000.

This general permission is not available where:

B: Transfer by way of gift:

A person resident in India who proposes to transfer to a person resident outside India [other than erstwhile OCBs] any security, by way of gift, shall make an application to the central office of the foreign exchange department, Reserve Bank of India furnishing the following information, namely:

(i) 5% of the paid up capital of the company per donee, and

(ii) Amount does not exceed $25,000 per calendar year for each donor. The valuation of these shares shall be in accordance with pricing guidelines prescribed.

6. What if the transfer from resident to non-resident does not fall under the above facility?

In case the transfer does not fit into any of the above, either the transferor (resident) or the transferee (non-resident) can make an application for the Reserve Bank's permission for the transfer. The application has to be accompanied with the following documents:

7. Are the investments and profits earned in India repatriable?

All foreign investments are freely repatriable except for the cases where NRIs choose to invest specifically under non-repatriable schemes. Dividends declared on foreign investments can be remitted freely through an Authorised Dealer.

8. What are the guidelines on issue and valuation of shares in case of existing companies?

i) The average of the weekly high and low of the closing prices of the related shares quoted on the stock exchange during the six months preceding the relevant date or

ii) The average of the weekly high and low of the closing prices of the related shares quoted on the stock exchange during the two weeks preceding the relevant date.

9. What are the regulations pertaining to issue of ADRs/GDRs by Indian companies?

10. What is meant by Sponsored ADR & Two-way fungibility Scheme of ADR/GDR?

11. Can Indian companies issue Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs)?

12. Can I invest through Preference Shares? What are the regulations applicable in case of such investments?

13. Can shares be issued against Lumpsum Fee, Royalty and ECB?

Issue of equity shares against lump sum fee, royalty and external commercial borrowings (ECBs) in convertible foreign currency are permitted, subject to meeting all applicable tax liabilities and sector specific guidelines.

14. Other than issue of shares under Automatic /Government Route, what other general permissions are available under RBI Notification No.FEMA 20 dt.3-5-2000?

15. Can I invest in unlisted shares issued by a company in India?

Yes. As per the regulations/guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India/Government of India, investment can be made in unlisted shares of Indian companies.

16. Can a foreigner set up a partnership/proprietorship concern in India?

No. Only NRIs/PIOs are allowed to set up partnership/proprietorship concerns in India. Even for NRIs/PIOs investment is allowed only on non-repatriation basis.

17. Can I invest in Rights shares issued by an Indian company at a discount?

There are no restrictions under FEMA for investment in Rights shares at a discount, provided the rights shares so issued are being offered at the same price to residents and non-residents.

II - Foreign Technical Collaboration

1. What are the payment parameters for foreign technology transfer under the Automatic Route of Reserve Bank of India? How should royalty be calculated?

2. What should be done, if Automatic Route of Reserve Bank of India for technology transfer is not available?

Proposals, which do not satisfy the parameters prescribed for automatic route of RBI, require clearance from Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.

III -- Foreign Portfolio Investment

1. What are the regulations regarding Portfolio Investments by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs)?

2. What are the regulations regarding Portfolio Investments by NRIs/PIOs?

IV - Investment in Government Securities and Corporate debt

1. Can a Non-resident Indian invest in Government Securities/Treasury bills and Corporate debt?

Under the FEMA Regulations only NRIs and SEBI registered FIIs are permitted to purchase Government Securities/Treasury bills and Corporate debt. The details are as under;

A. A Non-resident Indian can purchase,

(1) i) Government dated securities (other than bearer securities) or treasury bills or

units of domestic mutual funds;

ii) bonds issued by a public sector undertaking(PSU) in India;

iii) shares in Public Sector Enterprises being disinvested by the Government of India.

(2) They can also invest, on non-repatriation basis, in dated Government securities (other than bearer securities), treasury bills, units of domestic mutual funds, units of Money Market Mutual Funds in India, or National Plan/Savings Certificates on non-repatriation basis. The guidelines for these schemes are framed by the concerned Government agencies.

B. A SEBI registered Foreign Institutional Investor may purchase, on repatriation basis, dated Government securities/treasury bills, non-convertible debentures/bonds issued by an Indian company and units of domestic mutual funds either directly from the issuer of such securities or through a registered stock broker on a recognised stock exchange in India. The FIIs is required to ensure that;

i) the FII allocation of its total investment between equity and debt instruments (including dated Government Securities and Treasury Bills in the Indian capital market) should not exceed the ratio of 70:30.

ii) In case the FII is set-up as a 100% debt FII, it can invest the entire corpus in dated Government Securities including Treasury Bills, non-convertible debentures/bonds issued by an Indian company subject to limits, if any, stipulated by SEBI in this regard.

The Investment in Government Securities/Treasury bills and Corporate debt is subject to a ceiling decided in consultation with the Government of India. Investment limit for the FIIs as a group in Government securities currently is USD 3.2 Billion. The limit for investment in Corporate debt is USD 1.5 billion. At present, the FIIs can also invest in Innovative instruments such as Upper Tier-II capital upto a limit of USD 500 million.

V - Foreign Venture Capital Investment

1. What are the regulations for Foreign Venture Capital Investment?

A SEBI registered Foreign Venture Capital Investor with general permission from the Reserve Bank of India can invest in a Venture Capital Fund or an Indian Venture Capital Undertaking, in the manner and subject to the terms and conditions specified in Schedule 6 of RBI Notification No. FEMA 20/2000-RB dated May 3, 2000 as amended from time to time.

VI - Procedure for opening Branch/Project/Liaison Office

1. How can foreign companies open Liaison/Project/Branch office in India?

Foreign company can set up Liaison/Branch Offices in India after obtaining approval from Reserve Bank of India. Reserve Bank of India has given general permission to foreign companies to establish Project Offices in India subject to certain conditions.

2. What is the procedure to be followed for obtaining Reserve Bank's approval for opening Liaison Office/Representative Office?

3. What is the procedure for setting up Project Office?

4. What is the procedure for setting up branch office?

Source: Reserve Bank of India

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