Plan your India entry timeline.

Pick a structure and see a realistic week-by-week setup estimate — incorporation or registration, GST across your states, and the bank account — with the levers that stretch or compress it.

What typically drives the number

Every Indian company needs at least one director who has been ordinarily resident in India — 182 days or more in the financial year — under Section 149(3) of the Companies Act. If the parent has no one on the ground, a nominee resident-director arrangement solves it, at the cost of about a week of paperwork. Apostille or consular legalisation of the parent's charter documents is the other common drag: done in advance it costs nothing; started late it adds around two weeks before filings can even begin.

A branch office is the outlier: it needs RBI-route approval through an AD Category-I bank, which adds six to twelve weeks, and the parent must show a net worth above USD 100,000 in its latest audited financials. A project office tied to a specific Indian contract generally proceeds under the general permission route without that wait.

Indicative cost

Professional and government fees for a wholly-owned subsidiary typically land between ₹1.5 lakh and ₹4 lakh depending on scope — states, licences, nominee services and post-incorporation compliance. That figure is indicative only; we confirm fees solely in a written engagement letter, never on a web page. As an advisor-led firm, we manage the full stack while credentialed filings are executed through our empanelled professionals.

This estimator is general information, not legal or tax advice — sectoral caps, approval routes and state-level requirements need a structure memo before you commit.