RBI issues draft Foreign Exchange Management (Establishment in India of a branch or office) Regulations, 2025

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, vide press release dated October 03, 2025, issued the draft Foreign Exchange Management (Establishment in India of a branch or office) Regulations (Draft Regulations), to amend and supersede the Foreign Exchange Management (Establishment in India of a Branch Office or a Liaison Office or a Project Office or any other place of business) Regulations, 2016. Public comments/feedback were sought until October 24, 2025.

The key aspects notified by the RBI include inter alia the following:

1. Opening a branch or office in India 

An Entity Resident outside India (EROI) shall establish a branch or office in India in terms of these Draft Regulations and in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Companies Act, 2013. The application for establishing a branch or office in India shall require prior approval of the Government of India, inter alia, in case the EROI is a Non-Profit Organization, or is owned or controlled by the Government of a foreign country, or its principal business falls in the sectors specified therein, etc.

2. Additional place of business 

A branch or office established in India under these regulations, may establish additional place of business in India under intimation to its designated bank. Further, a branch/office with additional place of business shall identify one of its places of business in India as nodal branch/office for ensuring compliance of all its offices with the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, read with regulations and directions issued thereunder, and inform its designated bank. 

3. Opening and maintaining bank accounts

An EROI who has established a branch or office under these Draft Regulations may open non-interest-bearing INR current account(s) with an AD bank (‘designated bank’ after opening of account) for its operations in India. Further, all financial transactions undertaken by such branch or office shall be related to the activities for which such branch or office has been established.

For more details, kindly refer to the Draft Regulations by clicking on this link.