Doing Business in India: Strengthening India’s Climate and Investment Opportunities | Global Law Group

[co-authors: Srinath Dasari, Vaidhyanadhan Iyer, Zia Mody, Anand Shah, Shreya Rao]*

1. What is the current business climate in your jurisdiction, including the main political, economic and / or legal activities on the horizon in your country that could have a significant impact on business?

The Indian economy is gradually recovering from the impact of the second wave of COVID-19, supported by several government policy measures, targeted tax relief and rapid deployment of the vaccine across the country. The Indian government has taken several steps to strengthen the economy through a combination of short, medium and long term measures and, as part of its recent budget, has introduced programs to address various challenges related to the economy by increasing limits on FDI across key sectors, by launching the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) program which offers incentives on additional sales of products made in India and by developing the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) project to attract investment in India. The private equity and venture capital industry has doubled in value by recording investments worth $ 20 billion in the first five months of 2021 compared to 2020.

2. From which countries do you see the most inward investment? What about outgoing?

Inbound investment: United States, United Kingdom and Singapore

Outgoing investment: Mauritius, Singapore, British Virgin Islands and the Netherlands

3. In which sectors / industries do you see the most foreign investment opportunities?

Service, computer hardware and software, computers, telecommunications, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and automobiles

4. What advantages and pitfalls should others know about doing business in your country?

Advantages :

• Trade reforms and government initiatives
• Attractive consumer market
• Power of digital technology and innovation
• Low operating cost

Traps:

• Bureaucracy
• Complicated tax system

5. What is a cultural fact or custom about your country that others should be aware of when doing business there?

India is a multilingual and multicultural society with notable nuances of ethnicity and culture. Great trust is placed in the cultivation and establishing long-term business relationships.

*AZB & Partners