Hi there, I have only just found this website and it interests me.
I am looking at investing in India and have been speaking to a company who are selling land on a gated development in punjab area.
basically they are saying that me as an english national will have to set up a company to own the land? now I have invested in thailand and fully understand how it works there with shareholders and myself being the director of the company, this seems a bit different...
they are saying that the funds will be taxed higher if i send them back before 3 years and that all I do when I have sold my land is wind the said company down/resign as director???
now correct me if I am wrong but I am led to believe if you wind any company down anywhere that is financially positive there must be costs or other taxes to pay than just capital gains tax?

has anyone here bought the way I am being proposed?

can anyone share there experience?

am I being scammed?

many thanks in advance and I look forward to any advice given

It's amazing how few members of this India section of the forum seem to give any kind of decent answer to questions like yours.

Try starting a thread with "investor has $3million to invest in India - Where do i invest?" and see how many of them suddenly appear

__________________
New agent in Ireland seeking to partner with other agents/developers to sell your properties in the Irish/UK market. Anyone interested, please get in touch.

thats a shame John as I was genuinely on here hoping to discuss my experiences with other like minded people...

I cannot believe that nobody on here hasn't purchased in India and won't share the details with me...shame really as like you say theres plenty of free advertising by the same old posters!

thats a shame John as I was genuinely on here hoping to discuss my experiences with other like minded people...

I cannot believe that nobody on here hasn't purchased in India and won't share the details with me...shame really as like you say theres plenty of free advertising by the same old posters!

Hi,

I am a citizen of India and resident in Bangalore. I am a corporate attorney who has an idea of taxes, however, not detailed enough to give you sound advice on all the factors involved. What i know is that as an English national, you cannot directly invest in property in India. Which is why someone has suggested to you that you should establish a company and have other directors and invest.

There are a plethora of Indian laws that would be impacted for investing in property in India (FEMA - Foreign Exchange Management Act, Indian Income Tax Act, the Double taxation avoidance treaty between UK and India, Indian Companies Act, and some local state laws and rules of the municipality where you wish to invest, to refer a few). I would suggest that you get in touch with a good law firm (that would involve spending some $$$) in India which specialises in real estate, corporate and tax laws and get advise from them on how to structure the company (branch office of a foreign company, liaison office of a foreign company or indian company) and invest in such a way that you can take out the maximum amount of money when you decide to cash in on your investments.

As far as I understand it, as an English national, you would not be able to take out any of the profits from the sale - only your original investment and that too after a lock-in period.

One reason why you havent gotten a response yet seems to be the low movement on this site and low no. of members around. Anyone who has invested in India property earlier would have spent $$$ and may not want to dispense free advice.

All the best.

hey, you need a qualified person to handle your query.. India does not allow full capital account convertibility. Foreign companies can invest into real estate companies, and constucted space and NOT into land. It is prohibited for Foreign companies to get into land business.
Indian real estate is growing by leaps and bounds, we personally saw our turnovers increase by 1000% which has happened for the first time in 25 years of our existence.
For investing in India, you need to get in touch with a chartered accountant who can help you in setting up a company, and get you the FDI approval form the government.

Hello Overseasmicky,

I'm Daniel Joseph based in Chennai in India and my father is in to Real Estate business for the past 40 years and i'm to assisting him now for the past 3 years and learning the trick of the trade. I'll be glad to assist you to buy a land in India.

Now let me give you some facts foriegners buying land or property in India is not allowed and that's the reason you were given an option to start a company or become a shareholder in a comapny to buy a land, however isn't that a head ache. Here is an oppurtunity where you invest directly to buy a property in India,

Foriegners are allowed to buy built in property only in Goa and that's due to the alarming demand in that area by westners. You can easily buy a studio appartment or A villa overlooking the beach in Goa and we will need to sell the property to you before completion as that will avoid you paying stamp duty. A villa over looking the beech normally costs around 50,000 pounds and an apartment probably will cost 25 to 30,000 pounds and you can invest with out trouble.

If you are looking to settle in India no problems, however if you are looking to rent the apartment or your property you will need to sign an agreement with us so that we will maintain the property on your behalf and deposit the rent in your account every month.

However to buy a land in Goa as a foriegn national you need to get the permission on RBI - Reserve bank of India and there is some legal thing that you need to go through, i'm wondering if you are really interested I can help you and you can also speak to my business partner in Dorset and we do printing & SEO business and i've been with him for almost a year and a half and he knows really well. I would say your in the right place and I can assist you.

If you are looking at land or property in other part of India you cannot buy however you can lease a land for a period of 5 years and during the end of tenure you can probably take another place for lease or you can register it again on any one else name in your family. However this is the best option and I will recommend this to you

There are more rules in place and it takes a lot of time to pen it down on this forum you can feel free to drop me a line at danielusah@yahoo.com, danygetsit@gmail.com or you can call me on my mobile +91 044 9884708086 or call my land line +91 044 65263231 and both me and my Dad will take up your case and help you out.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Many Thanks

Daniel Joseph

The India growth story is selling the world over. The 9-percent-India offers several investment opportunities. Our stock exchanges have been on a secular bull run for the last few years, real estate investments are yielding high returns and the foreign exchange coffers are full. These factors make investing in India compelling not just for those of us who live here, but also for non-resident Indians (NRIs) and persons of Indian origin (PIO) who want a share in their home country’s progress even though they don’t live here.NRIs can acquire immovable property like land, a house or a fl at in India, just like a resident. But they cannot hold agricultural land, plantation property or a farmhouse. As an NRI, you can buy, rent and sell your property. The sale proceeds of up to two residential properties can be repatriated. This applies if you are either an NRI or a PIO.If you net any capital gains from selling the property, this should be credited to the non-resident ordinary rupee (NRO) account, from where you can repatriate an amount up to $1 million per financial year. An NRO account is an account opened in Indian rupees and can be used to route earnings made on investments in India or make legitimate local payments.If you bought your property while you were residing in India and had taken a loan for it here, you can repatriate the proceeds from the sale, provided the loan has been repaid by remitting funds from abroad or debiting your non-resident external rupee (NRE) account. An NRE account is opened with funds remitted from abroad, but is maintained in Indian rupees.
You can also rent out your property in India without any approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The rent you receive can either be credited to the NRO or NRE account, or remitted abroad. PIOs who are citizens of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, China, Afghanistan, Iran, Nepal and Bhutan cannot remit sale proceeds of immovable property.

Hello Micky,
I know your question is a year old but I would like to know how you got on purchasing property in India?
I see you had a lot of advice from Indian people wanting to help you to purchase.
Be very careful in trusting anyone in India. It is a very corrupt society and any opportunity to 'capture' a foreigner to milk for money is quickly seized by those very skilled in doing this.
I am British and have had a company in India since 2003. This is for tourism and not just for the purchase of property. It has not been easy!
Indian people can come here, set up business, buy property – even get elected to parliament.
There is no reciprocal arrangement between India and Britain.

It used to be that you could set up a company and say the property was for use within the company and nobody questioned it. You could also purchase after staying in India for a long time. Now, visas are stamped with the words ‘Stay during each visit not to exceed 180 days’. Even if a person manages to get a visa valid for a year (very unlikely these days) they still have to leave India before 180 is up. Long term foreign ‘residents’ in India visit Sri-Lanka for a few days.

Certain British people can purchase property in India - no problem – provided that they can prove they have a drop of India blood. This means, a parent/grand-parent has to have been born in India. You can see these people daily in the visa office, London trying to get duel nationality for their children – because they are married to a person who’s grandfather happened to have been born in India before being brought to UK.
You get the picture!
Some of these British Indians know nothing about India. Many have never even been there – but they want to get a slice of the booming property prices.
When some British people are offered opportunities which are denied to other British people - this is racism.

There has been a purge to remove foreigners from India and Goa is the worst hit.
There are many horror stories. People have lost everything.
Homes have even been burned down by the authorities.
There is a special programme on Radio 4 ‘You & Yours’ tomorrow 23 May 2008 where they will be interviewing some of these people. I do hope you are keeping up with this forum and will get to hear the programme.
Else where in India it might be easier to purchase. Goa is particularly strict now as that is where the majority of foreigners can be seen. At one time there was an article in a Goa newspaper listing all the foreign owned properties – very frightening.
The new rules have brought out new fraudsters.
People are buying on the understanding that a British company is involved. Buyers are shown evidence of this. They hand over money at each stage of building – only to find that when the property is complete they do not own it in any way.
If you still want your own place in India – and it is a very beautiful country let me know by replying to this message.
Best wishes.
Treat Yourself in India Ltd

Hi Fenni,

At last someone who is actually out in India telling it how it is.

I love Inida, have been many times over the last 20 years and I would love a second home out there and latterly properties for pure investment. Over the years I have investigated many ways of buying and without being able to permanently relocate and start a real buiness, sadly found it was not possible.

I have spoken to many agents in India and UK, most of whom claim there are legal ways around this problem, not owning the freehold, forming a business (which does not trade), owning a share ...... The result is still the same, if you are not a PIO (Person of indian origin) you can not legally buy ANY sort of property in India.

What I find so frustrating is that in the last few months I have been bombarded on an almost daily basis by respected international Agents and so-called experts recommending property investment in India. I email each of them and ask how they think I as an English person can invest in India and very few seem to think its a problem. There must be hundreds of Brits buying out there, with the very real prospect of losing their money.

Any advice on changing policies, legal loopholes are welcome.