Doing Business in India
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Doing business in India Editorial board: Rahul Patni Manoj Anchalia Sheetal Pradhan Prateek Pipara Publishing and Marketing: Jerin Verghese Tripti Panda Online promotion: Tripti Panda Artwork: Mayur Sachdeva For a printed copy, write to us at: [email protected] Websites: ey.com/DBI ey.com/in/taxservices 2 | Doing business in India 2015-16 In this cloudy global horizon, India is a bright spot. Recent policy reforms and improved business confidence have provided a booster shot to economic activity. Using India’s new GDP series, the IMF expects growth to pick up to 7.2 percent this fiscal year and accelerate further to 7.5 percent next year—making India the fastest growing large economy in the world. - MD Speech: Seizing India’s Moment, International Monetary Fund, 16 March 2015 After a decisive election victory in May 2014, the government has set ambitious development goals, seeking to transform India into a “prosperous” nation. The government has started implementing reforms spanning a number of areas to achieve these goals. - World Bank, India development update, April 2015 We assess India’s economic strength as High (+) relative to all other sovereigns we rate. The size of its economy, its growth rate and our expectation of continued strong economic growth support this assessment. - “Now, Moody’s says India’s economic potential high,’’ Business Today website, 25 August 2015 The long-term impact of various reforms announced by the Modi government over the past year will reap rich dividends for the country and for its ability to achieve and sustain high rates of growth… the decisive mandate in the general elections was a very positive development for the economy. The immediate impact was felt in the form of a strong improvement in sentiment. - K V Kamath, the chief of the New Development Bank set up by the BRICS, Economic Times, 31 May 2015 Doing business in India 2015-16 | 3 Foreword Foreword History was made when Mr. Narendra Modi took oath as the Prime Minister of India after a historic mandate in the 2014 election. With a promise and vision for reforms, good governance and “aache din” (good days), government was formed by a single political party with a clear mandate in the last 30 years. In the past year, the Government has taken steps toward creating non-adversarial, business-friendly and more governance-oriented financial and economic environment in India. Measures have also been taken to attract foreign investment, which include easing foreign direct investment (FDI) policy and extended cooperation with many countries (e.g., Japan, the US, etc.). Several schemes have been announced and implemented to address diverse socialeconomic needs and gaps. The flagship schemes, which have already gained popularity, include ‘Make in India’. This scheme promotes manufacturing in India to boost job creation and skill enhancement, facilitate investment, foster innovation, protect intellectual property, and build best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure. Other schemes include smart cities, digital India and Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan (Clean India leading cap). These schemes have opened up multifaceted opportunities for multinational corporations (MNCs) such as financial institutions, private equity firms, equipment suppliers, contractors and consultants. On the tax front, the stated intent of the Government is to have a non-adversarial and conducive tax environment. To support this, the Government has introduced many reforms, including rollback scheme in Advance Pricing Agreement, the strengthening of the Authority for Advance Ruling by the introduction of additional benches, a conducive tax regime for infrastructure investment trusts and real estate investment trusts, the setting-up of a high-level committee to scrutinize fresh cases of indirect transfers arising from retrospective amendments of 2012, conclusive steps to introduce a goods and service tax law which will subsume at least 14 federal and state levies from 1 April 2016. The new Government has recently introduced black money law to tackle undisclosed overseas income and assets. With policies being liberalized and reformulated for ease of doing business in India, tangible steps have been taken to tackle treaty shopping, retrospective taxation, etc. Recently India has signed an intergovernment agreement with US authorities to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act toward increased transparency between the two countries on tax matters. 4 | Doing business in India 2015-16 Foreword The World Bank has projected India’s GDP to expand to 7.5% for FY 2015-16 on account of increased economic activity and stability as a result of introduction of new reforms and re-formulation of old policies by the new Government. GDP growth shall further accelerate to 7.9% in 2016-17 and 8% in 2017-18, as per the World Bank. Among the changing landscape of doing business in India, we have developed this guide to assist business executives to have a quick overview of the finance and demographic profile of India, models under which a company could set an establishment in India and the tax and regulatory framework in India. The book also provides an overview of key sectors in India including recent developments in the respective sectors. The information provided in the book has been validated up to 15 January 2016. While this book is a guide to understand businesses to operate in India, we strongly recommend consulting our team of experienced professionals to guide you further in your journey before undertaking or planning Indian operations. We hope you find this publication useful. We will be happy to hear your comments and suggestions at [email protected]. Rahul Patni Partner Tax & Regulatory Services, EY India Doing business in India 2015-16 | 5 Ease of doing business Ease of doing business 6 | Doing business in India 2015-16 Ease of doing business Ease of doing business Ease of Doing Business is one of the important initiatives run by the Government and is crucial to the success of various initiatives such as Make in India, Start-up India, Digital India, etc. In the current global environment, where capital is scarce and there are countries competing for attracting the same capital, it is important to make India an investor-friendly destination. The first step toward this objective is to do away with multiple procedures, rules, regulations and red tape and bring more transparency and clarity in policies. Key initiatives undertaken by the Central Government for ease of doing business in India are highlighted hereunder: Central Government Initiatives1: 1. Facilitating investments • Investor Facilitation Cell established to provide primary support for all investment queries and for providing handholding and liasioning services to investors • Dedicated Japan Plus Cell established to facilitate and speed up investment proposals and augment economic ties between India and Japan • Dedicated desk established to facilitate and speed up investment proposals and augment economic ties between India and Korea, China, Canada, the US • E-Biz: A single-window online portal, where any investor looking to start a new business or establishing a new industrial unit, can avail core services needed to obtain necessary clearances, licenses, complete mandatory tax registrations and regulatory filing that are required to operate the business/industrial unit • Checklist with specific time-lines has been developed for processing all application filed by foreign investors in cases relating to Retail/ NRI/ Export oriented units • Investments in LLP opened up to foreign investors in specific sectors. 1Source: Government of India - Make in India website (http://www.makeinindia.com/eodb/central-government- initiatives) Doing business in India 2015-16 | 7 Ease of doing business 2. Simplification in administration of labor laws • Shram Suvidha — Multiplicity of labor laws and the difficulty in their compliance had always been cited as an impediment to industrial development. In order to redress the same, Government launched an online portal Shram Suvidha, which is expected to facilitate: • Ease of reporting at one place for various labor laws • Consolidated information of labor inspection and its enforcement • Allotment of Labour Identification Number (LIN) to units to facilitate online registration and filing of returns • Real time registration with Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) and Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) 3. Simplifying operation of business in India • Curbing the need of Consent to Establish/No Objection Certificate (NOC) letter for new electricity connections. • Online application and monitoring for environmental and forest clearances. • Simplification in obtaining industrial licenses: • Simplified forms for obtaining industrial licence and Industrial Entrepreneurs Memorandum (IEM)2 • Granting security clearance on Industrial License applications within 12 weeks by Ministry of Home Affairs • Dual use items (defence and civilian items) unless classified as defence items, will not require industrial licenses • Initial validity period of industrial licenses has been increased to three years from two years to enable procurement of land and obtain necessary clearances/approvals from authorities • Frequently asked questions (FAQs) have been developed and uploaded on Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) website • Reduction in the mandatory documents required for import and export of goods from eleven to three 4. Simplification of various compliance under the Companies