The Legal 500

AZB & Partners provides the full spectrum of tax advice to domestic and international corporates, either as part of a wider corporate service or on a standalone basis. The firm’s prominent reputation for M&A means that the tax team regularly provides tax structuring advice, such as its recent work for Bharti Airtel on the Zain Africa acquisition. Ajay Bahl and Percy Billimoria are recommended.

Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan fields ‘one of the standout tax practices’, and handles the full array of contentious and non-contentious matters, although it is best known for its knowledge of indirect taxation. Recent work includes advising domestic and international clients on customs-related issues including customs tariff classifications. The ‘very experienced’ V Lakshmi Kumaran is recommended.

Vaish Associates’ four-partner direct tax team has an excellent reputation in the 
market and represents both domestic and international corporates. It is best known for its litigation work, and has handled a number of significant transfer-pricing cases. Managing partner Ajay Vohra heads the practice.

Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co provides advisory and contentious tax support for its blue-chip roster of corporate clients. The firm provides crucial tax structuring advice on major corporate transactions, and is praised for its ‘ability to provide a true one-stop-shop service’. Team head Aseem Chawla recently advised FedEx on the tax structuring 
associated with its $100m acquisition of two Indian courier companies.

FoxMandal Little regularly provides tax advice on significant M&A transactions. In addition, the firm is often instructed on a standalone 
basis across issues as diverse as sales tax, international tax planning and income tax matters.

Manish Mishra heads Khaitan & Co.’s New Delhi office, which advises a number of clients on indirect taxation issues, including transactional and advisory matters and disputes. Mishra recently represented Jindal Power before the Director General of Foreign Trade and persuaded the body to allow the client to 
transfer capital goods to a group company 
without incurring additional customs duty liability.

Sanjay Kochhar heads Kochhar & Co’s 
busy four-partner team which handles an impressive volume and range of mandates including litigation, transfer pricing, structuring and compliance advice. Kochhar recently prepared a transfer-pricing report regarding
cross-border transactions between Nihon 
Denkei India and associated enterprises based outside the country. Shahid Khan and 
Vijay Ravi are other key members of the team, which also acts for clients such as Landmark Holdings and Maclellan.

As a corporate and M&A heavyweight, it is perhaps not surprising that a significant amount of Luthra & Luthra’s tax work lies in tax structuring as exemplified by its recent work on Abbott Laboratories’ $6.2bn acquisition of Solvay Pharma India. However, the team also recently successfully handled several 
pending income tax litigations for Jubilant Food Works. Other clients include Arcelor Mittal, Rolls Royce Group, Kingfisher Airlines and Moser Baer. Vikas Srivastava and Sanjeev Sachdeva 
are recommended, respectively for their direct and indirect tax expertise.

Praised for its ‘understanding of the different cultural norms of Western business practices’,
Seth Dua & Associates is particularly accomplished at representing international clients including SAB Miller, Verizon, Fiserv and Deutsche Telekom. Lauded for its 
‘killer instinct’ on contentious matters, the firm is representing Foster’s Group in high-profile withholding tax litigation relating to SAB Miller’s recent acquisition of the company. Atul Dua
as ‘excellent knowledge of Indian tax law’, 
and has previously worked at both KPMG 
and Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC).

Although the bulk of the firm’s tax work is handled out of Mumbai, DSK Legal’s New Delhi office has some exposure to transactional structuring tax work.

IndusLaw advises clients on contentious and non-contentious tax matters, and 
recently successfully represented Max India 
before the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellant Tribunal regarding the classification 
of certain classes of services. Tapas Misra 
heads the team.

LexCounsel advises clients on contentious and non-contentious aspects of issues relating to double taxation, customs law and VAT. The firm also provides niche expertise to charities, 
trusts and non-profit organisations across a range of issues including tax exemptions.

Diljeet Titus heads Titus & Co’s ‘business-sensitive and pragmatic’ tax team, whose 
clients include Hirotec America, Raytheon and ARB.