How To Set Up An Offshore Subsidiary In India?

An offshore subsidiary setup in India, what investors commonly call "setting up an offshore presence" in India is in fact incorporating an Indian subsidiary (or creating a branch/liaison/project office).

For a foreign business looking to expand into India, the most common route is to establish a subsidiary company under Indian law. In business conversations this is sometimes loosely referred to as an "offshore subsidiary in India." Legally, what you are creating is a company incorporated in India, registered under the Companies Act, 2013, and treated as a domestic entity, even though its shareholding is controlled by a foreign parent.

Why does this matter?

Because from day one, such a subsidiary is governed by Indian corporate law, Indian tax law, and India's Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy. Unlike a branch or liaison office, a subsidiary gives the foreign parent a full commercial footprint: the ability to hire employees, acquire property, enter