Foreign Liaison & Branch Office in India

Foreign Company Entry Into India — Liaison, Branch and Project Office

A foreign company that wants a physical footprint in India, but is not ready to incorporate an Indian subsidiary, has three regulated options: a Liaison Office (LO, also called a Representative Office), a Branch Office (BO), or a Project Office (PO). All three are unincorporated places of business of the parent — they do not create a separate Indian company — and all three are governed by the same core law: Notification No. FEMA 22(R)/2016-RB dated March 31, 2016, now consolidated in the RBI Master Direction on Establishment of Branch Office/Liaison Office/Project Office in India. Choosing the wrong structure is expensive to unwind, so the decision should be made against your actual proposed activities in India, not against convenience.

Liaison vs Branch vs Project Office — the Core Difference

A Liaison Office is a communication channel only. It may represent the parent, promote the parent's products or services, gather market intelligence, and act as a bridge between the head office and Indian parties. It cannot earn any income in India, cannot invoice, cannot enter into commercial contracts on its own account, and is funded entirely by inward remittances from the parent. Because it does not earn, an LO generally has no Indian income-tax liability on trading profits, but it must still file with the tax authorities and the RoC.

A Branch Office is the commercial arm of the parent in India. It may export/import goods, render professional or consultancy services, carry out research for the parent, act as a buying/selling agent, provide technical support for the parent's products, and represent the parent in India — and it may remit its Indian profits abroad after tax. A Branch Office may not carry out manufacturing or processing activity on its own in India (that is reserved for a subsidiary or joint venture), except when it operates inside a Special Economic Zone under the applicable SEZ conditions. A Branch is taxed in India as a foreign company on the income attributable to it.

A Project Office is the most narrow and time-bound of the three. It is set up by a foreign company that has secured a specific contract to execute a project in India — typically an infrastructure, engineering or turnkey contract. The PO exists only for that project, and closes when the project is complete. Its scope is limited to activities relating to and incidental to the execution of the project.

The RBI Route vs the Government (Approval) Route

Applications to establish an LO, BO or PO fall under one of two routes. Under the RBI Route (also called the automatic route), the designated bank can grant approval where the principal business of the applicant falls under sectors in which 100% Foreign Direct Investment is permissible under the automatic route. Under the Government / Approval Route, prior approval of the Reserve Bank in consultation with the Government of India is required. The Government Route applies, for example, where the applicant is from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iran, China, Hong Kong or Macau, where the principal business falls in defence, telecom, private security or information and broadcasting, or where the applicant is a Non-Government Organisation, Non-Profit Organisation, or a Government/quasi-Government body. Correctly classifying your route at the outset prevents a rejected or reprocessed application.

Routing the Application Through a Designated AD Category-I Bank

A foreign company does not file directly with the RBI. The application is submitted to and routed through a designated Authorised Dealer (AD) Category-I bank — a scheduled commercial bank authorised to deal in foreign exchange. The AD bank is the applicant's single point of contact: it verifies documents, runs due diligence and KYC on the parent, forwards Government-Route cases to the RBI, and — once the office is set up — becomes the channel for all inward funding, reporting and the Annual Activity Certificate. Choosing an AD bank experienced in LO/BO/PO onboarding materially speeds up the process, which is why our Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai offices coordinate directly with the client's AD bank throughout.

Form FNC and the Documents Required

The application itself is made in Form FNC (Application for Establishment of Branch/Liaison/Project Office in India), submitted to the AD bank. The standard supporting documents include: the parent's Certificate of Incorporation / Registration, Memorandum and Articles of Association (attested by the Indian Embassy/Notary in the home country, or apostilled), the latest audited balance sheet of the parent, a banker's report from the applicant's home-country banker, details of the proposed activities and the intended registered address in India, and board resolutions authorising the establishment of the office and the appointment of the authorised signatory / representative in India. Each office, once approved, must also obtain a Permanent Account Number (PAN) and register the place of business with the Registrar of Companies.

Net Worth and Profit Track-Record Criteria

The eligibility financial thresholds under the Master Direction distinguish LO from BO. For a Liaison Office, the parent should have a profit-making track record during the immediately preceding three financial years in the home country, and a net worth of not less than USD 50,000 or its equivalent (net worth being total paid-up capital plus free reserves, less intangible assets, per the latest audited balance sheet certified by a Certified Public Accountant or equivalent). For a Branch Office, the parent should have a profit-making track record during the immediately preceding five financial years, and a net worth of not less than USD 100,000 or its equivalent. An applicant that does not itself meet these criteria may still qualify by submitting a Letter of Comfort from its parent company, provided the parent meets the thresholds. Project Offices are assessed on the project and its funding rather than on these fixed net-worth tests.

Permitted vs Prohibited Activities for a Liaison Office

Because the Liaison Office is the most misunderstood structure, its boundaries are worth stating plainly. An LO may: represent the parent/group companies in India; promote export from and import to India; promote technical and financial collaboration between the parent and Indian companies; and act as a communication channel between the parent and Indian parties. An LO may not: undertake any commercial, trading or industrial activity; earn any income in India; charge any commission or fee; sign contracts in its own name; borrow or lend money; or acquire property (other than by lease for its own office, subject to conditions). Crossing these lines exposes the office to FEMA action and can trigger a permanent-establishment tax exposure for the parent. Every LO's costs must be met exclusively out of inward remittances from the head office through normal banking channels.

Annual Activity Certificate and Ongoing Compliance

Every LO and BO must file an Annual Activity Certificate (AAC) for each financial year, certified by a Chartered Accountant, confirming that the office has undertaken only the activities approved by the RBI/AD bank. The AAC is submitted to the designated AD Category-I bank (with a copy to the Directorate General of Income Tax (International Taxation) where required) and is the principal instrument through which the regulator confirms that the office has stayed within its permitted scope. Alongside the AAC, the office must file its annual income-tax return, comply with TDS obligations, and — where applicable — GST. Project Offices report on the project and file on completion. Failure to file the AAC on time is one of the most common compliance defaults we are asked to regularise.

RoC Filing for a Foreign Company's Place of Business

Establishing a place of business in India also triggers obligations under the Companies Act, 2013 (Sections 380–386), administered through the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Within thirty days of establishing the place of business, the foreign company must file Form FC-1 with the Registrar of Companies, along with the charter/statutes of the company, the address of its registered/principal office abroad, particulars of its directors and of the authorised representative in India, and the address of its principal place of business in India. Thereafter the foreign company must file its financial statements in Form FC-3 and an annual return in Form FC-4. These RoC filings are separate from, and in addition to, the RBI/FEMA and income-tax compliance.

Closure Procedure

When an LO, BO or PO winds up, it cannot simply stop operating. Closure is done through the same designated AD Category-I bank and requires a defined set of documents: a copy of the RBI/AD approval for establishing the office, an Auditor's certificate confirming the manner of winding up and that all liabilities in India have been fully met (or provided for), confirmation that no legal proceedings are pending, a No-Objection / Tax Clearance from the Income Tax authority, and confirmation that no income accruing from Indian sources remains to be repatriated. On completion, the AD bank permits remittance of the office's net winding-up proceeds abroad. The corresponding RoC record for the foreign company's place of business must also be closed. Handled properly, closure protects the parent from residual Indian exposure; handled carelessly, it can leave open FEMA and tax liabilities for years.

India Entry Options — Choosing Between Liaison, Branch, Project Office and a Subsidiary

Before comparing structures in detail, it helps to frame the four realistic ways a foreign company can register a presence in India, and when each one is the right call:

• Liaison Office — choose this when you only want to test the market, represent the parent, and build relationships in India, with no intention of earning Indian income yet. It is the lightest-touch presence but cannot trade or invoice.
• Branch Office — choose this when the parent wants to trade, provide services or offer technical support to Indian customers under the parent's own name and remit those profits abroad, but does not need a separate Indian legal entity and does not need to manufacture on its own account outside an SEZ.
• Project Office — choose this when the parent has won one specific time-bound contract in India (typically infrastructure, engineering or turnkey) and needs an on-ground vehicle only for that project.
• Wholly Owned Subsidiary — choose this when you are committing to India for the long term, want a ring-fenced Indian company with limited liability, need to manufacture, hire at scale, raise local funding, sign contracts in the Indian entity's name, or plan to build a captive/GCC. This is an incorporated Indian private limited company under the Companies Act, 2013, and is covered in depth on our Indian subsidiary registration page.

The first three are unincorporated places of business of the parent and turn on RBI/FEMA approval; the fourth is a separate Indian company. The rest of this section compares the option foreign companies most often weigh against each other — a branch office versus a subsidiary.

Branch Office vs Subsidiary — the Comparison That Decides Most India Entries

For a company that has moved past a pure representative presence and actually wants to do business in India, the real decision is between a Branch Office (an extension of the foreign parent) and a Wholly Owned Subsidiary (a new Indian company). They differ on the points that matter most — liability, tax, permitted activities, how profits come home, and how the presence is eventually closed.

On liability, the difference is fundamental: a branch does not shield the parent, whereas a subsidiary confines Indian exposure to the Indian company. On tax, a branch is assessed as a foreign company at the foreign-company rate on its India-attributable income, while a subsidiary is an Indian domestic company taxed at domestic rates — a gap that often outweighs the simplicity of a branch. On permitted activities, a branch cannot manufacture on its own account in India except inside an SEZ, so any parent that needs a factory almost always incorporates a subsidiary. On repatriation, a branch remits post-tax profits after its Annual Activity Certificate, while a subsidiary distributes dividend (subject to withholding tax and any Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement relief). On closure, a branch is wound up through the AD bank with an auditor's certificate and income-tax No-Objection, whereas a subsidiary is closed under the Companies Act after clearing all statutory dues and FEMA reporting. As a rule of thumb, a branch fits a defined, service- or trade-led activity the parent wants to run in its own name; a subsidiary fits a long-term, standalone India operation.

Section 379 of the Companies Act, 2013 — When a Foreign Company Falls Fully Within the Act

A foreign company operating in India is not always subject to the same obligations as an Indian company. Section 379 of the Companies Act, 2013 is the provision that decides how much of the Act applies. It provides that where not less than fifty per cent of the paid-up share capital (whether equity or preference, or partly one and partly the other) of a foreign company is held by one or more citizens of India or by one or more companies or bodies corporate incorporated in India, or by any combination of the two — whether held individually or in the aggregate — such foreign company is required to comply with the provisions of Chapter XXII (Companies Incorporated Outside India) and such other provisions of the Act as may be prescribed, with regard to the business carried on by it in India, as if it were a company incorporated in India. In plain terms: once Indian ownership of a foreign company reaches the 50% threshold, the foreign company is treated far more like a domestic company for its Indian operations, pulling it deeper into the Act's registration, financial-statement and annual-return obligations (the FC-1, FC-3 and FC-4 filings discussed above) rather than the lighter footprint a purely foreign-owned place of business might expect. Foreign companies structuring Indian ownership — for example through an Indian joint-venture partner — should test their cap table against this threshold before assuming which compliance regime applies. The exact statutory text is on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (mca.gov.in).

Why CA V. Viswanathan and Virtual Auditor

The combination of FCA, ACS, CFE, and IBBI Registered Valuer credentials under one practice — IBBI/RV/03/2019/12333 — is rare, and is precisely the breadth needed for engagements that span FEMA, corporate law, direct tax and cross-border structuring simultaneously. Our practice has been operating since 2012 with offices in Chennai, Bangalore, and Mumbai, and coordinates directly with your AD Category-I bank on Form FNC, FC-1/FC-3/FC-4 RoC filings, and the Annual Activity Certificate. Engagements are scoped on fixed-fee terms wherever the work permits, with full transparency on inclusions and exclusions.

Engagement Process and Next Step

Free 30-minute consultation with CA V. Viswanathan to determine the correct structure (LO, BO or PO) and route (RBI vs Government), confirm eligibility against the net-worth and track-record tests, and provide a written fixed-fee quote. Call +91 99622 60333 or email support@virtualauditor.in to schedule.

Official References: RBI — Master Direction on Establishment of BO/LO/PO · MCA — Foreign Company (Sections 380–386, Forms FC-1/FC-3/FC-4) · Income Tax Act, 1961