Mar. 5 - There are several options available to the foreign investor when it comes to establishing a Representative style office in India. Listed below are three separate scenarios, which are dependent upon the type of business model you wish to run. Businesses looking at invoicing for services, import export or manufacturing in India are advised to look at private limited company formations (wholly foreign-owned) which we shall cover next week. However, for sourcing or certain other service industries, and for projects and short term manufacturing contracts, these structures will suffice as explained: Read the rest of this entry »
Feb. 25 - India’s Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC)Â has proposed widening the scope for service tax to include the entertainment business for the upcoming Union Budget 2010-11.
Currently, entertainment is separately taxed by states and as a service tax by the central government with no prevailing uniformity on taxation since taxes are paid on a case-to-case basis. Read the rest of this entry »
Feb. 23 - India’s Employee State Insurance Corporation has agreed to raise the wage ceiling from Rs10,000 (US$216)Â to Rs15,000 (Us$324) per month under the ESI Scheme.
The social security scheme covers employees and their dependents during sickness, maternity, temporary or permanent physical disablement, death or injury during the time of employment. Read the rest of this entry »
Feb. 18 - The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is considering a new scheme that will provide pre-merger consultation for companies mulling over potential mergers and acquisition.
This will allow companies the opportunity to seek competition regulator’s views prior to filing proposals and cut down on approval times and delay that sometimes can take as long as 210 days. “We are considering having pre-merger consultations clause for vetting mergers under sections 5 and 6 of the Competition Act,” CCI chairman Dhanendra Kumar said in a statement during the Indo-U.S. Economic Summit held in New Delhi. Read the rest of this entry »
Feb. 16 - The Reserve Bank of India has liberalized the policy concerning commercial borrowings from overseas sources.
The new policy makes the obtaining and changes in loans approvals process simpler and effectively decentralizes the process. Previously, applicants had to apply for approval from the RBI, and also complete documentation with the Department of Statistics and Information Management, apply for a loan registration number and obtain RBI approval. Read the rest of this entry »
Feb. 15 - India’s Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) is now allowed to approve foreign direct investment proposals worth as much as US$258.7 million.
This is a major procedural change and will streamline the FDI process and lessen the burden for Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA); the agency previously required to approve proposals amounting to more than US$1,297,411. Now only projects worth than US$ 258.7 million will need to apply for CCEA approval. Read the rest of this entry »
Feb. 12 - India’s new Companies Bill is expected to be approved during Parliament’s monsoon session.
The new bill will replace the current Companies Act that has been in place since 1952. Corporate secretary R. Bandyopadhay told Press Trust of India: “With the speed at which the parliamentary standing committee is proceeding with the discussions, I am hopeful that the Bill would be passed in the monsoon session.” Read the rest of this entry »
Feb. 10 - The government is expected to formally clarify that special economic zones (SEZs) will continue to maintain its specific tax benefits even after the implementation of the new direct taxes code.
India’s Commerce Department has been calling for the clarification on SEZ tax to assure investors that tax benefits will still be applicable even after the new tax code is announced. This is in light of a section of the proposed version of the new direct tax code that suggests canceling the current tax exemption on profits on investments made by SEZ developers while also failing to provide detailed instruction on the tax treatment for businesses based in the SEZs. Read the rest of this entry »
Feb. 5 - Business visa rules that prohibit foreigners from working in the country may be relaxed to adjust to the needs of the IT industry.
Indian visa rules became stricter last year to clamp down on the thousands high and low-skilled Chinese workers illegally working in the country on power and steel projects using a business visa. The new rules requires that only one percent of total workers in a project can avail of employment visas and a cap of only twenty employment visas per project. Read the rest of this entry »
Jan. 22 - India is considering relaxing norms for foreign direct investment to require that only projects worth about US$217 million to US$326 million will need final approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
Currently, projects worth more than US$130 million need to cleared with the Finance Minister, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board and the CCEA. If the proposal is approved the new conditions will probably be enforced after the introduction of the consolidated FDI policy framework set for April and projects worth below the threshold will no longer be required to gain CCE approval. Read the rest of this entry »
