Press Note No. 2 (2026 Series): Recalibrating India's FDI Screening Framework for Land-Bordering Countries Recently, the Union Cabinet has approved amendments[1] to the restrictions applicable to investments from countries sharing land border with India (“LBC”) as previously notified vide Press Note 3 (2020) dated April 17, 2020 (“PN3”). By way of background, pursuant to PN3, a proviso was added to Rule 6(a) of Foreign Exchange Management (Non-Debt Instrument) Rules, 2019 (

Nirmala Sitharaman presented Budget 2026 earlier today. The announcements are both innovative and all- encompassing, marking a conscious shift beyond the traditional focus on manufacturing, financial markets, and capital-intensive sectors. The Budget demonstrates a refreshing breadth in policy thinking. Initiatives to promote tourism, archaeology, astronomy, handloom and handicrafts, Ayurveda, and the Indian wellness sector signal a clear intent to unlock India's vast but und

Budget 2025 has been positive and populist. Overall, the budget focuses on increase in spending power, boost and upliftment to various sectors, ease in doing business (with emphasis on trust based regulatory framework) and of course, bringing in some much-needed respite to the middle-class taxpayers. It aims to initiate transformative reforms across various domains including taxation, power, financial sector. Set out below is a brief snapshot of the key takeaways from the bud

Recently, the High Court of Singapore (“High Court” / “Court”) in Devin Jethanand Bhojwani and others v. Jethanand Harkishindas Bhojwani1, had the opportunity to bring out the role of a trustee of private family trust. The ruling has brought the role of a trustee into sharp focus, specifically in relation to breaches of its fiduciary duties, the scope of ‘absolute discretion’ granted to trustees, commingling of funds and the maintenance of proper trust records. Background The

Recently, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (“Tribunal”) while dismissing an appeal filed by the taxpayer ruled that the taxpayer shall be considered to be an Indian resident since the tie-breaker under the India – US Tax Treaty (“Tax Treaty”) breaks in favour of India due to his closeness of personal and economic relations in India. Background The taxpayer is a resident of both India and the US and having permanent homes in both places. Some additional facts with respect to

Recently, the Central Government notified amendments to the Foreign Exchange Management (Non Debt Instruments) Rules, 2019 (“NDI Rules”) vide the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2024 (“Amendment”). One of the key changes introduced by the Amendment is to permit swap of shares of an Indian company (in case of a secondary transfer) and vis-a-vis shares of a foreign company, which is expected to allow for smoother and efficient cross

The Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, presented the annual budget for 2024 – 25. The Budget makes significant strides in pursuit of Viksit Bharat 2047 and with this goal in mind, the Budget envisages sustained efforts for generating significant opportunities for all. The Budget proposes key changes to the direct and indirect tax regime – the overall spirit of the proposed changes is to simplify taxes, improve taxpayer services, provide tax certainty and reduce tax litigat

The supreme court of India had a mammoth task before itself to bring clarity on the much-debated MFN issue under India’s tax treaties and while we have got the court’s answer which has become the law of the land, in our view, it is not clear as to what is that central reasoning that made the court answer the way it did. We did not see much discussion on merits and it is unclear as to why the court does not agree with the arguments of the taxpayer. The Delhi High Court had hel

Recently, the Supreme Court in the case of Sap Labs India Private Ltd. v ITO[1], held that in transfer pricing matters, a High Court cannot be precluded from examining the correctness of the determination of the arm’s length price by the Tribunal in an appeal on the ground that it does not raise a substantial question of law. The appeals before the Supreme Court were against the decision of the High Court of Karnataka, which dismissed the appeals preferred by the Revenue by r