India entry,from Dubai.

In most sectors, yes, under the automatic route without prior government approval. Certain sectors carry caps, conditions or require government approval, and investors from countries sharing a land border with India face additional screening, which does not apply to UAE investors. We confirm the route for your sector before you commit.

A wholly-owned subsidiary is the default for trading and operating businesses and is the most flexible. An LLP suits certain service businesses where FDI is permitted. Branch offices can conduct a limited range of activities with RBI approval; liaison offices cannot earn income and suit early market exploration; project offices serve specific contracts. Tax profile, permitted activities and compliance burden differ, and we compare them for your plan.

Incorporation itself typically takes two to four weeks once documents are apostilled and notarised in the UAE. Bank-account opening, GST registration and RBI reporting of the initial capital add several weeks. A realistic operational timeline is eight to twelve weeks; liaison and branch offices requiring RBI approval take longer.

Share issuances to foreign investors must be reported in Form FC-GPR within 30 days of allotment; transfers between residents and non-residents in Form FC-TRS within 60 days; and an annual Foreign Liabilities and Assets return by 15 July. Late filings can be regularised through late-submission fees or compounding, but they surface in diligence and delay future rounds.

The Indian entity is a Data Fiduciary for Indian personal data and must comply with notice, consent, security, breach-notification and grievance requirements; transfers to the UAE parent are permitted unless restricted by the government, and the parent may also be within scope if it processes Indian personal data directly. We design the intra-group data arrangements alongside the entity set-up.

The Indian parent's investment is Overseas Direct Investment under the 2022 rules, reported through the authorised dealer bank; founders' personal investments fall under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme with its limits. On the UAE side you choose between free-zone and mainland structures, obtain a licence, open a bank account and put UAE employment and commercial documents in place. UAE corporate tax and India's place-of-effective-management rules need coordinated tax advice.

The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, in force since May 2022, reduces or eliminates tariffs on most goods traded between the two countries and improves market access for services and professionals, subject to rules of origin. Whether your products or services qualify, and how to structure supply chains to benefit, is a fact-specific analysis we run with customs advisers.

Yes. India has notified the UAE as a reciprocating territory, allowing UAE court judgments to be executed in India under the Code of Civil Procedure, and both countries are parties to the New York Convention for arbitral awards. UAE courts enforce Indian judgments on the basis of reciprocity and treaty. Contract drafting, particularly the dispute-resolution clause, determines how smooth that process is.