US Company Entering India: A Gurgaon First-Step Checklist

1. Define what the India operation will actually do

Write a one-page mandate before discussing offices or entity forms. Specify functions, customers served, expected revenue activity, intellectual-property access, decision rights, year-one headcount and what must remain in the United States. This prevents location and legal choices from being made on vague assumptions.

2. Separate entity structure from location

A subsidiary, branch office and liaison office have different legal and regulatory implications. A liaison office is restricted to liaison activities and is not simply a lightweight operating company. Confirm the appropriate structure with Indian legal, tax and foreign-exchange advisers using current RBI and corporate-affairs guidance.

3. Build the Gurgaon talent map

List the first 10–20 roles, required experience, compensation bands and hiring sequence. Speak with recruiters or market specialists before signing a long lease. The office should follow the talent plan, because employee commute patterns can materially affect recruiting and retention.

4. Shortlist corridors, then buildings

Compare Cyber City, Udyog Vihar, Golf Course Road and other suitable corridors against airport access, employee catchments, client proximity, transit, building quality and cost. Then compare actual properties on identical assumptions.

5. Design compliance before the first hire

India’s four labour codes took effect on 21 November 2025. Employment documentation, payroll, social-security obligations, workplace policies and state-specific requirements should be reviewed for the current framework rather than copied from an old India template.

6. Plan banking, tax and intercompany flows

Map how the India operation will be funded, how services or intellectual property move between entities, who signs locally and what reporting is required. These questions need professional tax, transfer-pricing, accounting and FEMA advice before money starts moving.

7. Build a 90-day launch board

Track entity/compliance, hiring, office, IT/security, vendors and management cadence as separate workstreams with owners and dependencies. A weekly US–India launch call should focus on blockers and decisions rather than status reporting.

Turn the checklist into decision gates

A first-step checklist is most useful when each item has an owner and a condition for moving forward. For example, property search can begin early, but a long lease may wait until entity, hiring and budget assumptions are sufficiently validated. Recruitment research can start before final office selection, while actual employment arrangements need to match the chosen legal and payroll structure. Gates reduce the chance that one workstream runs far ahead of the others.

Plan the information flow between advisers

Legal, tax, HR, banking, property and technology questions overlap. Give advisers the same description of the intended India activity, expected headcount, contracting model and timeline. If the business model changes, update everyone whose advice depends on it. This sounds administrative, but cross-border projects often become expensive when one team is solving an outdated version of the problem.

Keep a launch-risk register

List unresolved issues that could delay or materially change the Gurgaon operation: approvals, banking, senior hiring, office availability, data-security requirements, payroll readiness or vendor dependencies. Give each risk an owner, next action and review date. The purpose is not to predict every problem; it is to make uncertainty visible before it becomes an emergency close to launch.