Project Office (PO) of a Foreign Company
A site office to execute a specific contract awarded by an Indian party — bounded by the project's duration.
Fee
$2,500
Turnaround
4–6 weeks
A presence built around your India contract
A project office is the right structure when a foreign company has won a specific contract to execute a project in India and needs a presence to carry it out. It is purpose-built and bounded: it exists for that project, does the work that project requires, and is closed when the project ends. For engineering, infrastructure, installation and similar contract-driven work, it is a cleaner fit than either a branch or a subsidiary, because it is scoped to exactly what you are in India to do.
Adv. Bhawna Yadav and her team set yours up at a flat USD 2,000, including the Reserve Bank route the structure requires.
When a project office is the right call
The defining feature is that you already hold an Indian contract. A project office is justified by that contract and funded in a way the regulator recognises — typically by inward remittance from the parent, or from a party to the contract, or through a financing arrangement tied to the project. If your India plans are open-ended rather than tied to a single project, a branch or subsidiary is the better structure; if they are defined by one contract, the project office is the efficient, low-overhead answer.
What it can do
A project office can carry out the activities the project requires and can repatriate the surplus on completion, after tax. It is not a vehicle for general business or for bidding on unrelated new work — each project office is tied to the project that justified it. That focus is its advantage: the compliance is proportionate to a defined undertaking rather than to an open-ended operation.
The Reserve Bank route and conditions
A project office is established under the Reserve Bank's framework for foreign offices, generally through an authorised dealer bank where the prescribed conditions are met. The key conditions relate to the contract and how the project is funded. We confirm at the outset that your project meets them, prepare the application accordingly, and route and follow it through your authorised dealer bank. The typical timeline is four to six weeks — usually quicker than a branch or liaison office, because the structure is narrower.
Closure is part of the plan
A project office is not permanent — it must be wound up once the project is complete, with the surplus remitted and the accounts settled. This is not an afterthought; it is part of doing it properly. We build the closure into the engagement from the start, so that when the project finishes the office is wound up cleanly and on time, rather than lingering as an open compliance liability.
What setting up involves
We confirm eligibility against the contract and funding, prepare the application and the parent and project documents, route it through your authorised dealer bank, and follow the approval through to the office being operational, including the tax registrations and bank account. From your side, the parent and contract documents are apostilled in your home country against our checklist. Throughout, you deal with a named Indian advocate and her team, at a flat fee, with no upselling.
Timeline and what to expect
A project office is typically faster to establish than a branch or liaison office — around four to six weeks — because its scope is narrow and tied to a defined contract. It is set up through your authorised dealer bank under the Reserve Bank's framework, generally where the prescribed funding and contract conditions are met. We confirm those conditions at the outset so you are not part-way into an application before discovering a gap, and we keep the bank moving while your home-country documents are apostilled.
Taxation and surplus
A project office is taxed in India on the income attributable to the project, and on completion the surplus can be repatriated to the parent after tax and after the prescribed closure steps. Because the office is bounded by the project, its tax footprint is correspondingly contained — but it is real, and it interacts with the parent's position and the relevant treaty. We coordinate with your tax advisor so the legal and tax treatment line up, and so the eventual remittance of surplus is clean.
Planning the closure from the start
The discipline that distinguishes a well-run project office is that its end is planned at its beginning. The office must be wound up once the project is complete, the accounts settled, and the surplus remitted. We build this into the engagement so that closure is an orderly, scheduled step rather than a scramble — leaving you with no lingering Indian compliance obligation after the project is delivered.
Project office versus branch
The two are often confused, because both let a foreign company operate in India without forming a subsidiary. The distinction is scope. A branch office is open-ended — it carries on the parent's permitted activities in India for as long as it is approved. A project office is bounded — it exists for one specific contract and is wound up when that contract is delivered. If you have a single, defined undertaking, the project office is leaner and cleaner, because its compliance and its lifespan are both tied to the project. If you expect to win and execute multiple contracts or carry on continuing activity, a branch (or a subsidiary) is the better long-term home. We make this call with you against the contract in front of you.
Who the project-office route suits
It is the right structure for a foreign company executing a specific, contract-backed undertaking in India — construction, installation, engineering, or a similar defined project — that does not need an open-ended presence. If that is you, it is the most efficient vehicle available, and we handle it end to end, from approval to closure, with a named advocate and her team at a flat fee and no upselling. And if, partway through, your India plans grow beyond the single project, we can advise on converting to a branch or a subsidiary so the presence you have built is not lost when the project ends.
What this fee covers
One flat, all-inclusive fee for the work below. You receive a written engagement letter with the scope and timeline before anything begins.
- Eligibility check — secured contract, funding source, sectoral compatibility
- Application via AD-bank to RBI (or under the automatic route, where conditions are met)
- Bank account opening
- Closure procedure planning at project end (mandatory)
Documents required
All foreign-issued documents must be apostilled (Hague Convention countries) or notarised + consularised + MEA-attested (non-Hague countries). Non-English documents need a certified English translation.
- Apostilled Certificate of Incorporation of the parent entity
- Apostilled Charter / MoA / AoA / Bylaws of the parent entity
- Apostilled board resolution authorising the India entity and naming the Authorised Signatory
- Apostilled passport copies of every foreign director / designated partner / authorised representative
- Apostilled foreign-address proof of every foreign director (utility bill / bank statement ≤ 2 months old)
- Copy of the Indian contract / purchase order awarding the project
- Source of funding statement (inward remittance, bilateral / multilateral funding, or external commercial borrowing)
Statutory anchors
The statutes, RBI notifications and MCA forms this engagement operates under.
- FEMA Notification 22(R)/2016 — Project Offices
- Master Direction — BO / LO / PO (RBI)
What we cannot do — and how we work around it
Indian-resident director / designated partner required (Companies Act §149(3); LLP Act §7).
How we work around it: Nominee resident director arrangement via vetted CAs / CSs, or a client-nominated resident contact.
FEMA inward remittance must route through an AD-Category-I bank — we are not a bank.
How we work around it: We coordinate with SBI / ICICI / HDFC / Axis forex desks on FC-GPR documentation and timelines.
Sectoral FDI caps may restrict the chosen structure (defence, insurance, retail, telecom etc.).
How we work around it: Pre-engagement sector check; mandates exceeding sectoral cap are declined or rerouted to a permitted structure.
PO must be closed within 6 months of project completion (and converted profits remitted).
How we work around it: We build the closure timeline into the engagement from day one so there is no last-minute scramble.
FAQs
Can a PO bid for new Indian contracts during its lifetime?
No — the PO is bounded by the contract that justified its creation. New contracts require either a fresh PO (separate RBI approval) or a different vehicle.
Working with us from abroad
Setting up in a country you are not standing in is daunting, and the hardest part is rarely the law itself — it is not being able to see the process, judge the people, or know what is actually happening with your matter. Our whole approach is built to remove that distance. You deal with one named Indian advocate and her team, the same people from first enquiry to completion, who own your setup end to end and act as your single point of contact on the ground in India. You always know who is responsible, and you can reach them in English across any time zone.
Apostille and documents, by country
The one step that always sits with you is getting your home-country documents authenticated. For countries party to the Hague Convention — the USA, the UK, most of the EU, Singapore, Australia and many others — that means an apostille, obtained from the competent authority in your country. For non-Hague countries, it means notarisation followed by consular and ministry attestation. We send you a precise, country-specific checklist on day one, so you start that clock immediately and nothing is later rejected for a missing stamp. While your documents are being authenticated, we complete the India-side preparation in parallel, so the moment they arrive the matter moves quickly.
One flat fee, agreed in writing
Before anything begins, you receive a written engagement letter setting out the scope, the flat all-inclusive fee, the assumed timeline, and what is not included. The fee you agree is the fee you pay — there is no hourly billing, nothing added later, and no upselling. Adv. Bhawna Yadav is enrolled with the Bar Council of Madhya Pradesh, and Indian advocates may advise foreign clients on Indian law; for questions of your home-country law, we work alongside your local counsel and keep our scope to the Indian-law layer.