获取外商直接投资（FDI）政府批准的程序

Foreign Direct Investment means any investment made by a person resident outside in Indian Companies through equity instruments or in LLPs through capital contribution. When India is in the direction of becoming a developed country, interest of persons resident outside India is increasing substantially in Indian Entities. As the foreign funding is increasing, the regulation by the Central Government is also increasing on FDIs.

As per Schedule I of FEM (Non-Debt) Regulations, Foreign investment in India can be done through following possible routes:

1. Automatic Approval: The automatic approval route is aimed for those sectors where FDI is least restricted and investment can be made without obtaining any prior approval from Reserve Bank of India or Central Government.

2. Government Approval: Under the Government approval route, FDI can be made after obtaining approval from the Central Government of India. Further, Investments shall be subject to conditions specified by the government for granting approval. In most of the sectors, FDI comes under automatic approval route upto a specified percentage. However, beyond such investment, prior approval of the Central Government of India is required.

E.g FDI in the e-commerce sector comes under automatic approval route upto 100%. Whereas, FDI in Insurance sector comes under automatic approval route upto 74%. For FDI beyond 74%, prior approval of the Central Government of India is required. 

However, now the major issue arises is what is the process of obtaining prior approval from the central government of India. This article contains a detailed discussion of how to obtain Central Government approval wherever required.

As per Standard operating procedure (SOP) issued by Government of India on 17th August, 2023, the applicant is required to following procedure for obtaining prior approval of government:

1. Filing of Online Application

• Proposals for government approval are required to be filed online through the National Single Window System (NSWS) with the Department for promotion of Industry and Internal trade (DPIIT). 
• Administrative Ministries/ Departments will examine FDI proposals on Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal (FIF Portal). 
• The applicant shall upload the proposal alongwith digitally signed documents.
• The applicant shall also file the Security Clearance Form wherever applicable.
• The government aims to make the entire process completely online and paperless. Therefore, the applicant is not required to file any physical copy of any documents that are required for processing of FDI proposals. 
• However, concerned Administrative Ministry/ Department may call for physical copy of original documents wherever required to substantiate the authenticity of document with approval of the Secretary concerned. 
• Competent Authorities shall not replicate an inter-Ministerial body in respective Ministries/Departments to grant approval for foreign investment. The regime for disposal of FDI proposals needs to be simpler in execution and expeditious in disposal. 

2. Documents required to be uploaded along with application

The applicant is required to upload following documents, digitally signed by the authorised signatory, alongwith proposal for obtaining prior approval of central government:

1. Letter of authorization by the Applicant in favor of the person(s) filing the Application. 
2. Summary on FDI Proposal 
3. Shareholding pattern of the Investee 
4. Diagrammatic representations
   1. Flow of funds from the investor to the investee 
   2. Group structure / organizational chart of the company clearly indicating inter-se shareholding percentage and respective place of incorporation.

5. Beneficial Ownership Details
   1. Details of Beneficial Ownership from Countries sharing land border with India 
   2. Details of Significant Beneficial Owner (SBO) 

6. Investee documents
   1. Certificate of Incorporation (CoI) of Investee 
   2. Memorandum of Association (MoA) of the Investee 
   3. Memorandum of Association (MoA) of the Investee 
   4. Board Resolution of the Investee for proposed Investment 
   5. Audited Financial Statement of Last Financial Year of the Investee 

7. Investor Documents
   1. Certificate of Incorporation (CoI) of Investor 
   2. Memorandum of Association (MoA) of the Investor 
   3. Article of Association (AoA) of the Investor 
   4. Board Resolution of the Investor for the proposed Investment 
   5. Audited Financial Statement of Last Financial Year of the Investor 
   6. Copy of reporting compliances in respect of Downstream Investment(s), if any 

8. Past Approvals:
   1. Copy of relevant past Approvals.
   2. Reporting Documents in support of past or existing foreign investment in Investee
   3. Signed executed copy of the Investment Agreement, JV Agreement, shareholders agreement, Approval of NCLT or any other competent authority, as required under Companies law.
   4. Valuation certificate as required in the FDI Policy and FEM NonDebt Instrument Rules 2019 and the same should be on arm’s length basis, wherever applicable. 
   5. Provide an undertaking that the Investee and Investors or their respective Promoters are not subject to any negative or caution by following authorities
      1. National Government 
      2. International Organisation 
      3. Statutory or regulatory authorities such as SEBI, RBI, SFIO, Enforcement Directorate, CBI, Income Tax Department etc.
   6. Any other approval / consent / NoC required by Investee or Investor(s) from any shareholder, third party or any other entity in respect of the proposed activity (ies)/ investment(s)/transaction(s). 
   7. Duly notarized Affidavit on stamp paper of ₹100/- only 

Note: In case documents provided by the applicant are in foreign language then the said document/language should be apostilled and translated into English language.

3. Processing of application for seeking approval

3.1 Refering of application to different ministry

1. Referring application to concerned Administrative Ministry or department
   1. After receipt of proposal, DPITT shall identify and assign proposal to the concerned Administrative Ministry or Department for processing and disposal of the proposal.
   2. The Administrative Ministries or Departments shall process the applications seeking post-facto approval in terms of para 4.1.2 of FDI Policy.

2. 将申请转交印度储备银行（RBI）征求意见
   1. DPIIT 还应在线将提案分发给印度储备银行（RBI），以便从《外汇管理法》（FEMA）规则的角度征求意见。

3. 将申请转交内政部（MHA）进行安全审查

以下外商投资提案应转交内政部（MHA）以获取安全许可及其意见：

1. 涉及广播、电信、卫星建立与运营、私人保安机构、国防、民航以及钛矿及矿石的开采与分离、增值及综合活动的投资。
2. 属于 2020 年 4 月 17 日发布的《新闻说明 3》（2020 年版）及 2020 年 4 月 22 日发布的《外汇管理（非债务工具）修订规则》适用范围内的申请。

4. 将申请转交外交部（MEA）征求意见
   1. 此外，所有提案均应转发给外交部（MEA）以供知悉。必要时，外交部可在规定时间内提供意见。
   2. 所有意见应直接提供给相关行政部委/部门。

3.2 与 DPIIT 及其他部委的磋商

• 对于需要从外商直接投资（FDI）政策角度进行澄清的提案，可在相关行政部委/部门秘书的预先批准下，向 DPIIT 获取澄清。因此，与 DPIIT 的磋商将基于需求，而非例行或常规程序。
• 在获得相关行政部委或部门秘书的充分理由说明及批准的前提下，可与其他部委或部门进行磋商。

3.3 来自 RBI、MHA 和 MEA 的意见

• 所有相关部委和部门（包括 RBI、MHA 和 MEA）应在规定的时限内提供意见。
• 然而，如果相关部委和监管机构未能在规定时间内提供意见，则视为其无意见。
• 必要时，内政部（MHA）可向相关部委申请延长时限。

3.4 相关主管部门对申请的审查

• 主管部门应在规定时限内审查申请及文件，并可要求提供补充文件和信息。
• 所有问询均应仅通过 FIF 门户网站提出。
• 主管部门应尽量在首次沟通中提出所有问题。
• 主管部门在处理提案时，应考虑行业要求及相关行业政策。

3.5 提案的批准或拒绝

• 在处理提案后，主管部门应在规定时限内做出决定，并通过 FIF 门户网站将决定告知申请人，同时抄送所有被咨询的部委/部门、监管机构及 DPIIT。

3.6 延期 FDI 提案的处理

• 为对延期的 FDI 提案以及由相关处理部委/部门上报以求快速处置的提案做出适当决定，已成立了一个跨部委委员会。
• 此类委员会由来自 DPIIT、经济事务部、公司事务部、内政部（MHA）、相关行政部委/部门的秘书以及来自 RBI 和印度国家转型委员会（NITI Aayog）的代表组成。
• 该委员会将审查并指导相关行政部委或部门处理此类提案，以确保及时处置。

4. 申请处理时限

DPIIT 和主管部门须遵循以下时限处理申请。

注意：

1. 对于主管部门拟拒绝或拟附加条件的提案，应给予 DPIIT 2 周的额外考虑时间。
2. 所分配的时限应扣除申请人补正缺陷或提供补充信息/文件所花费的时间。

5. 不完整提案的结案

• 若 FDI 提案不完整（即未提交全套文件、信息格式不正确，或申请人在多次提醒后仍未回应问询），行政部委或部门可在向申请人发出最后提醒后，将该提案结案。
• 此外，FDI 申请的结案并不等同于拒绝，申请人如有意愿，可连同所有必要文件重新提交申请。
• 申请应由相关行政部委或部门的秘书予以结案。

6. Rejection of Proposal or Insertion of Additional Conditions

• In case where the proposal is rejected or where additional conditions are imposed for approval, concurrence of DPIIT shall compulsorily be sought by the Competent Authority, with the approval of the Secretary concerned.
• Secretary, DPIIT is the competent authority for seeking concurrence in such matters.
• It is important to note that concurrence of DPIIT is not required for imposing conditions concerning compounding under FEMA provisions or compliance of laws/ regulations of the land or court orders. 
• Copy of the rejection letter should be marked to all consulted Ministries, Departments and Regulatory agencies.

7. Withdrawal by the Applicant

• An applicant may withdraw its FDI proposal where no final decision is granted.
• Withdrawal can be made subject to submission of a duly authorized letter of withdrawal clearly explaining the reasons for such withdrawal addressed to the Competent Authority with a copy to DPIIT. 
• Such withdrawal request should be acknowledged by the Competent Authority on NSWS Portal, after which the proposal shall be treated as withdrawn. 

8. Surrender of Approval by the Applicant

• An applicant may surrender the approval letter granted after the applicant submits such declaration in original signed by the authorized representative clearly explaining the reasons for such surrender. 
• An acknowledgement will be sent to the applicant clearly indicating the date from which the approval letter stands withdrawn. 
• Copy of the same should be marked to all consulted Ministries, Departments and Regulatory agencies.   

9. Rectification of mistakes in Approval Letter

• The applicant may request for rectification of typographical or grammatical mistakes in the text of Approval Letter as apparent from the records. 
• After necessary verification and due diligence, the Administrative Ministry or Department may issue corrigendum, with approval of the Secretary concerned.