India Courts Foreign Firms with Redomiciliation Proposal

India's lawmakers have proposed allowing overseas-registered companies to transfer their registration directly to an Indian International Financial Services Centre, with GIFT City in Gujarat being the likely target destination. This proposal would create a formal redomiciliation pathway for foreign entities, enabling them to move their legal home to India without dissolving and re-incorporating from scratch.

GIFT City operates as a regulatory island within India, offering a lighter regulatory framework compared to the rest of the country, with different tax treatment and fewer capital controls. The proposal has been discussed with several key government bodies, including the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).

The redomiciliation proposal addresses India's brain drain problem, where Indian founders have been incorporating their startups in foreign countries due to a hostile corporate and tax environment. This move is also seen as a positive signal for crypto-native investors, suggesting a softening regulatory direction in India.