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Introduction  The real estate sector is the driving force behind the growth of the Indian economy.  It is the second largest employment generator and GDP contributor in the country.  In the most generic sense, real estate business means buying and selling of properties (residential and commercial), which consist of land, buildings, natural resources attached, etc….

Introduction Reducing tax litigation has been a key focus area for the Modi government.  Several initiatives have been taken by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (the “CBDT”) in the recent past to significantly reduce disputes and provide relief to taxpayers involved in tedious litigation with the revenue authorities. The CBDT has also issued several…

Introduction India’s foreign investment regime has been liberalized significantly in the last couple of years.  On June 20, 2016, the Indian government announced a host of reforms to further liberalize foreign investment in the defence, pharmaceuticals, retail trading, civil aviation and broadcasting carriage services sectors, as also in private security agencies, and the Department of…

Introduction The Competition Act, 2002 (the “Act’) read with the Competition Commission of India (Procedure in Regard to the Transaction of Business relating to Combinations) Regulations, 2011 deal with the merger control regime in India.  Recently, the Indian government has issued notifications to revise the de minimis and merger control thresholds, and has extended certain…

Introduction M&A transactions often include escrow and indemnification provisions. Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (the “RBI”) has amended the Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of Security by a Person Resident outside India) Regulations, 2000, permitting parties to defer the payment of a certain portion of the consideration and open escrow accounts (to deposit…

Background – The need for a new law The Indian legal framework for insolvency resolution, debt recovery and restructuring of stressed assets was ineffective in ensuring satisfactory repair of credit default mainly due to the fact that insolvency and debt recovery were governed by different overlapping statutes having conflicting objectives. The laws governing debt recovery…

Introduction On May 19, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (the “SEBI”), in its board meeting, specified certain additional measures to enhance transparency and control over the issuance of offshore derivative instruments (“P-Notes”).  These measures will come into effect through appropriate amendments in the existing regulations. Background The SEBI (Foreign Portfolio Investors) Regulations,…

Introduction Under the bilateral double taxation avoidance agreement between India and Mauritius (the “Mauritius DTAA”), any capital gain arising from the sale of shares can be taxed only in Mauritius and not in India.  India has been attempting to renegotiate the Mauritius DTAA over the past decade to check round-tripping of funds and treaty abuse….

Introduction After much deliberation in the Indian Parliament, on March 25, 2016, the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (the “Act”) was enacted.  The Act seeks to regulate the real estate sector, and pave the way for speedier dispute resolution between property consumers and real estate developers.  The provisions of the Act will be…

Introduction On April 11, 2016, the Reserve Bank of India (the “RBI”) flagged off the Unified Payment Interface (“UPI”) system, which will be a channel that will enable multiple bank accounts to be accessed through a single mobile application (“APP”).  The launch of the UPI system will revolutionize India’s financial sector. This update discusses the…