Country guide
Expanding to India
A practical guide to setting up and running an Indian subsidiary, written for foreign companies and foreign nationals.
India lets you incorporate entirely online, without ever visiting, and it will send the application back over a document that is a week too old. This guide runs from the decision to expand through to a company that can legally trade, written from filings our team has made.
What this guide covers
01Expanding to India as a foreign companyWhere to start, what it takes, and whether you need an entity at allHow long expansion takes end to endSubsidiary, branch office or liaison officeWhether an EOR is the better first move02Shareholders, directors and the registered officeThe shape of the entity, settled before any paperwork startsThe 9,999 / 1 shareholding and why it existsHow to get a resident director with no contacts in IndiaWhat counts as a registered office03The incorporation process, step by stepEvery filing from name reservation to the certificate of incorporationThe seven steps and what each one takesHow to pick a name India will approveThe document checklist, and the four rules that fail applications04Opening the bank account and moving the capitalChoosing a bank, funding the entity, and the purpose code that trips people upWhy HSBC is usually the practical choiceHow the share capital actually movesThe three things that go wrong on the transfer05What you have to file before you can tradeBoard meetings, auditors, share certificates, INC-20A and FDI reporting to the RBIEvery deadline, in the order it falls dueWhat the company cannot do before INC-20AFC-GPR, FLA and the FIRMS portal06GST, corporate tax and TDSThe filing calendar a foreign-owned subsidiary runs on, month by monthGST registration, monthly returns and reverse chargeWhich corporate tax regime to electAdvance tax, TDS and treaty relief07Transfer pricing from the first rupeeIntercompany agreements, benchmarking, and what the Income-tax Act 2025 changesThe seven kinds of intercompany agreementForm 48, Local File and Master File thresholdsWhat changes on 1 April 202608Hiring under the new Labour CodesRegistration thresholds by headcount, the 50% basic pay rule, and payroll from day oneEvery registration and the headcount that triggers itWhat the new Labour Codes changedWhy POSH applies to a two-person office
What this guide does not cover
- Indian residents incorporating at home. The domestic path is different and simpler.
- Solo founders. Foreign nationals cannot run a sole proprietorship in India, and company law here assumes multi-party governance.
Last updated September 2026. Rates, thresholds and forms change; check a primary source before you rely on a number.
