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VJM & Associates LLP

Project Office Registration in India

Foreign companies looking for a limited presence in India should opt for setting up a project office in the country. It is the ideal method for companies who have the objective of completing a project within a specific time frame. Foreign companies need to get approval from the Reserve Bank of India and register themselves with the RoC if they have a contract to execute a project in India.

There are certain documentation and compliance requirements that businesses need to go through to have their project office in India.

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Project Office 2

Know More about Project Office in India

A project office is nothing but a place of business established with the intention of representing a foreign entity to execute a project in India. Companies are allowed to form project offices either on a temporary basis or permanent. Businesses need to register the office from RBI and RoC before they start their actual operations. Companies need to fulfill certain conditions for the registrations. An application through the category 1 AD Bank along with the documents related to project agreement is required.
Foreign Companies face certain issues while incorporating a Subsidiary Company or Private Limited Company in India. The issues are-
  • The requirement of heavy compliance
  • Wastage of time and resources
  • Closer proceedings take huge time
To curb these issues and make the entry and exit process easier for the Foreign Companies, RBI has permitted the Foreign Companies to set up a Project Office in India. Given that, the applicant company has secured a contract from an Indian company to carry out a project in India. Alongside this, there are certain conditions- The inward remittance, coming from abroad is funding the project or, A Multilateral or bilateral International Financing Agency is funding the project or, An appropriate authority has permitted the project or, An Indian company or entity, which is associated with the contract has been permitted Term Loan for the project by any Public Financial Institution or by a bank, situated in India.
Having a secured project in India, a foreign entity can ask for permission to set up a project office in the country. Here are the mandatory requirements to apply for setting up a project office, Formal Contract of The Project As mentioned earlier, a foreign company looking to set a PO needs to have a secured project in India with a formal agreement for the same financial statement. Foreign Funding The project needs to be funded through inward remittance from abroad or at least an International financing agency need to fund the project Clearance of Project A certificate of clearance which shows the appropriate authority or ministry has cleared the project. In some cases, a clearance certificate from the environment ministry is also applicable. Indian Funding If in case there is no foreign funding the company need to avail a term loan from a bank or public financial institute in India through the Indian Entity who has awarded the contract
  • FNC form signed by the AR
  • Note on the location and proposed activity of the Project Office
  • Proof of the parent company’s registration, which is located outside India
  • NOC from the owners
  • Board resolution for opening a Branch Office
  • Audited financial report of the past 5 years
  • Certificate of the Incorporation & MOA
  • Authorized Signatory’s KYC
Our end to end solution for setting up your Project Office in India involves the below processes. Have a look.
  • Legalization/ Attestation of documents
  • Application filing with RBI through AD bank
  • Getting the KYC verification process done
  • Getting approval of RBI for Project Office registration in India
  • Project Office registration with the ROC
  • Getting PAN Card, Tax Deduction Number, and Bank account opening
  • Other Registration and Licenses
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