The Government has undertaken several statutory steps to provide regulatory relaxations and boost foreign investment. The current Government has focused on continuous governance improvement and attracting foreign capital. As the implementation date of the final and most critical phase of India’s new data protection framework approaches, the Government is taking several measures to prepare for compliance.
E-Commerce Export Framework – The Government of India has operationalised the inventory-based cross-border e-commerce export framework under the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), 2023 (covered by Asia Law Portal) through a recent notification and corresponding public notice. The framework provides a comprehensive policy and procedural architecture for facilitating inventory-based cross-border e-commerce exports of goods manufactured or produced in India. The rapid growth of cross-border e-commerce presents a significant opportunity for Indian manufacturers, artisans and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to access global markets. Following the amendment to the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy through Press Note No. 3 (2026 Series), which permits inventory-based e-commerce operations exclusively for exports, the Government has now operationalised the corresponding regulatory framework under the FTP. The framework enables such exports while safeguarding Indian sellers’ interests.
Proposed Changes to Competition Commission’s Coverage – A parliamentary panel has called for lowering the Rs 2,000-crore deal value threshold (DVT) for the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to approve merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions. It warned that the existing threshold could allow large companies to acquire smaller businesses without adequate competition oversight. The Standing Committee on Finance suggested lowering the threshold for transactions involving MSMEs if market studies show the current level allows potentially anti-competitive acquisitions to escape CCI review. The DVT was introduced under the 2023 amendments to the Competition Act as an additional trigger for CCI scrutiny of M&As. It is intended to capture transactions where the deal value is high even though the target entity might not have substantial assets or turnover, a feature particularly relevant to acquisitions of tech companies and start-ups. The Rs 2,000-crore threshold applies where the target also has substantial business operations in India. In its response to the committee, the Government defended the existing threshold, saying it introduced it in September 2024 after stakeholder consultations.
FDI Investments – A total of 29 FDI investments have been reported under the revised framework up to 20 August 2026, involving proposed FDI of ₹4,895.65 crore. These investments span a range of sectors, including information technology, artificial intelligence, information and communication, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, data centres and transport services, among others. Investors/entities based in jurisdictions including Mauritius, the United States, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Singapore, Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands reported the 29 investments. The revised framework facilitates and expedites the flow of foreign investment into India by removing the requirement of prior Government approval in cases involving non-controlling Land Bordering Countries (LBC) ownership of up to 10 per cent, as reported by Asia Law Portal. The reform provides greater certainty to investors, reduces transaction time and further strengthens the ease of doing business in India.
Government Timelines for DPDP Act Compliance – The Central Government has begun pushing its own ministries, departments and state governments towards compliance with the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 (phased implementation covered by Asia Law Portal), asking them to appoint senior officials, set implementation timelines and overhaul how they collect, process and protect citizens’ personal data. The exercise will require government organisations first to establish how and where they process personal data. It has called for identifying personal-data processing activities and preparing appropriate data inventories, as well as reviewing privacy notices, consent mechanisms where applicable and grievance-redressal arrangements. They will also have to strengthen technical and organisational safeguards and review contractual arrangements with third-party vendors and data processors. An important part of the exercise will be embedding privacy considerations into government technology rather than treating them as a compliance requirement after systems have been built. Ministries and states have been asked to incorporate privacy-by-design principles into the development, enhancement and operation of digital government services and review legacy systems in a phased, risk-based manner.
Foreign Investment Taxation Benefits – The Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2026 received the President’s assent on 17 August 2026, the Ministry of Law said in a gazette notification. Through the Act, the Government seeks to attract more foreign capital, promote domestic electronics manufacturing and make it easier for foreign cloud companies to use Indian data centres by providing ‘process certainty’. The Act makes it easier for fund managers to relocate to India by reducing the list of conditions these funds must satisfy to ensure their global income is not taxed in India. To encourage domestic manufacturing by providing policy certainty, the Act extends until 2040-41 the income tax exemption currently available to foreign companies that engage a contract manufacturer in India to produce electronic goods. Specified electronic items mentioned in the Act include mobile phones, laptops, personal computers, tablets, servers and their key parts and accessories. To support component supply for electronics factories, it proposes a 15-year income tax exemption until 2040-41 for foreign companies that store components in customs warehouses and supply them to a contract manufacturer in India.
Foreign Company’s Filings – The Government has clarified that there is currently no automatic data-sharing mechanism between the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for foreign company registrations. In a frequently asked questions (FAQ) document on registration of foreign companies and subsidiaries of foreign bodies corporate, the MCA said the two regulators’ documentation requirements differ and that RBI approval does not, by itself, replace the separate MCA filing and documentation requirements. The clarification comes in the backdrop of foreign companies having to comply with requirements under both the Companies Act and foreign exchange regulations. The Ministry said the National Single Window System (NSWS) can help foreign companies find out which approvals they need, but it does not replace MCA filings or approvals from sectoral regulators. Foreign companies must still file Form FC-1 along with the required regulatory approvals, including those from the RBI under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA).
