Govt notifies revised overseas investment rules

The government on Monday notified Overseas investment rules and regulations bringing various overseas investment related transactions under automatic route from the approval route earlier.
The government in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) carried out a comprehensive exercise to simplify the regulations related to overseas investment.
Extant regulations pertaining to Overseas Investments and Acquisition and Transfer of Immovable Property Outside India have been subsumed within the revised rules and regulations.
“Clarity on Overseas Direct Investment and Overseas Portfolio Investment has been brought in and various overseas investment related transactions that were earlier under approval route are now under automatic route, significantly enhancing “Ease of Doing Business,” Finance Ministry said in a statement.
The Ministry noted that in view of the evolving needs of businesses in India, in an increasingly integrated global market, there is need of Indian corporates to be part of global value chain.
“The revised regulatory framework for overseas investment provides for simplification of the existing framework for overseas investment and has been aligned with the current business and economic dynamics,” it said.
In line with the amendment in the Foreign Exchange Management Act 2015, Outward Investments Rules have been framed by the Government of India in consultation with the Reserve Bank.
Presently, the overseas investment by a person resident in India is governed by the Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of Any Foreign Security) Regulations, 2004 and the Foreign Exchange Management (Acquisition and Transfer of Immovable Property Outside India) Regulations, 2015.