Yes, a foreign company which has established a Branch Office or other place of business in India, in accordance with FERA / FEMA regulations, can acquire any immovable property in India, which is necessary for or incidental to carrying on such activity. They can also mortgage such property and on winding up of the business, can repatriate the sale proceeds as well. However, companies incorporated in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, China, Iran, Nepal, and Bhutan would require prior approval of RBI before purchasing any property to set up their office.
The payment for acquiring such a property should be made by way of foreign inward remittance through proper banking channel. A declaration in form IPI should be filed with the RBI within 90 days from the date of acquiring the property.
On the other hand, if the foreign company has established a Liaison Office only, it cannot acquire immovable property. In such cases, they can acquire property by way of the lease not exceeding 5 years. A ‘Liaison Office' means a place of business to act as a channel of communication between the principal place of business or Head Office or by whatever name called and entities in India but which does not undertake any commercial /trading/ industrial activity, directly or indirectly, and maintains itself out of inward remittances received from abroad through normal banking channel.
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almost 3 years ago