Establishment of Branch Office (BO) / Liaison Office (LO) / Project Office (PO) or any other place of business in India by foreign entities
The extant Regulations regarding requirement of prior approval of the Reserve Bank of India, for opening of a Branch Office (BO) / Liaison Office (LO) / Project Office (PO) or any other place of business in India, where the principal business of the applicant falls in the Defence, Telecom, Private Security and Information and Broadcasting sector, have since been reviewed in consultation with the Government of India and the amendments have been notified by Government.
The opening of a BO/LO/PO or any other place of business in India, where the principal business of the applicant falls in the Defence, Telecom, Private Security and Information and Broadcasting sector, no prior approval of the Reserve Bank of India shall be required, if Government approval or license/permission by the concerned Ministry/ Regulator has already been granted.
Further, in the case of proposal for opening a PO relating to defence sector, no separate reference or approval of Government of India shall be required if the said non-resident applicant has been awarded a contract by/entered into an agreement with the Ministry of Defence or Service Headquarters or Defence Public Sector Undertakings. It is clarified that the term “permission” used in the Notification does not include general permission, if any, available under Foreign Direct Investment in the automatic route, in respect of the above four sectors.
The have been issued under Section 10(4) and 11(2) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999) and are without prejudice to permissions / approvals, if any, required under any other law.
About the Author
