International Clients – India Entry

Your local finance and regulatory partner in India, so you can focus on the business rather than the paperwork.

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Entering India means working within a regulatory environment that is genuinely different from most global businesses’ home markets — FEMA, RBI approvals, GST, transfer pricing, and a compliance calendar that runs year-round, not just at year-end.

We act as the local finance and regulatory partner for international companies, investors, and entrepreneurs setting up and operating here, so the compliance burden sits with us — not with a headquarters team on the other side of the world.

Market entry and entity setup

  • Advisory on the right entity structure
  • Company incorporation and registration
  • Bank account setup support
  • RBI and FEMA compliance for inbound investment
  • Registered office, liaison office and local representative support

FEMA and RBI compliance

  • Foreign Direct Investment reporting and compliance
  • Advisory on sector-specific FDI caps and approval routes
  • External Commercial Borrowings compliance
  • Annual FLA return

International taxation and transfer pricing

  • Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement advisory
  • Permanent Establishment risk assessment
  • Transfer pricing documentation, study reports and compliance
  • Withholding tax advisory on cross-border payments
  • Tax structuring for repatriation of profits and dividends

Accounting, bookkeeping and reporting

  • Local books maintained under Indian GAAP or Ind AS
  • Reporting aligned to the parent company’s standards
  • Monthly, quarterly and annual MIS for global headquarters
  • Consolidation-ready financial statements

Statutory and regulatory compliance

  • GST registration, filings and reconciliation
  • ROC filings and Companies Act compliance
  • Payroll processing and compliance
  • Statutory and tax audits
Who this is for04 scenarios
How we engage04 steps
  1. Step 01 of 04

    Structuring conversation

    Objectives, sector, FDI route and intended activity reviewed, with a written recommendation on entity structure and the reasoning behind it.

What you receive

support in getting the required certificates, licences and approvals, a twelve-month compliance calendar, and monthly reporting in both Indian statutory and parent-group formats.

Why work with us04 reasons

  • Local expertise delivered to global reporting standards

    Indian regulatory knowledge, delivered with the reporting discipline and responsiveness that multinational finance teams expect — a combination that comes from having worked inside global organisations, not only advised them.

  • A single point of contact

    Entity setup, compliance, tax, payroll and finance run through one team, rather than requiring your headquarters to coordinate four separate Indian vendors.

  • Time-zone aware collaboration

    Reporting cadence and communication structured around your headquarters' working day, not only ours.

  • End-to-end accountability

    From incorporation through to your first statutory audit, the same firm stays with the engagement.

Frequently asked questions04 questions

Common questions, answered directly.

The queries that come up most often on international clients – india entry engagements — answered plainly, without the hedging.

Still have a question? Contact us
Which entity structure should a foreign company choose for India?
It depends on what you intend to do here. A liaison office can represent the parent but cannot earn revenue. A branch office can carry out a defined set of commercial activities but not manufacturing. A wholly owned subsidiary can trade, hire, invoice and hold assets in its own right, and is what most operating businesses choose. A joint venture makes sense where a local partner brings market access or where sectoral FDI policy requires one. We advise on the choice before incorporation, when it is still inexpensive to change.
How long does it take to set up and become operational in India?
Incorporation itself typically runs two to four weeks from the point your documents are ready. Becoming genuinely operational — PAN, TAN, a functioning bank account, GST registration and the ability to invoice — usually takes another three to five weeks, with bank account opening the slowest step because of foreign shareholder KYC requirements.
Do you report in our parent company's accounting standards?
Yes. We maintain statutory books under Indian GAAP or Ind AS as required for local compliance, and produce a parallel management reporting layer aligned to your group's standards — US GAAP or IFRS — on your close calendar and in your chart of accounts, so the India entity is never the reason group consolidation slips.
Can you support expatriate staff we send to India?
Yes. Expatriate payroll, personal tax position, social security and DTAA relief, and the related withholding obligations are handled as part of the engagement, alongside payroll for your local Indian hires.

Explore

Other Services.

Every practice the firm runs, less the one you are reading. Each is scoped to stand on its own, and coordinated so nothing falls between compliance and strategy.

Tell Us What You're Looking For.

A 30-minute call is usually enough for us to tell you whether we're the right fit.

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Phone
+91 98185 77133
Email
contact@rnthakur.com