Welcome to Latham’s India Insights, which covers key legal and commercial developments in the dynamic and growing India market.
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—The Latham India Practice team
The Reserve Bank of India (India’s nodal banking regulator) has notified amendments to India’s External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) Regulations (the ECB Regulations) for new overseas borrowings.
Why This Matters: The ECB Regulations significantly liberalise the ECB framework, opening up new opportunities for leveraged finance and offshore-to-onshore lending. For offshore lenders and credit funds, the ECB route is now a viable and commercially flexible channel into India, free from the pricing and eligibility constraints that previously made the framework unworkable for many transactions. The amendments are a game changer for offshore lenders and credit funds looking to finance Indian acquisitions.
Pivotal reforms in one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing insurance markets to allow 100% foreign investment in the insurance sector took effect on 5 February 2026.
Why This Matters: The reforms are intended to help India transition from a protected, joint venture-oriented regime in the insurance sector to an open, capital-rich framework anchored in regulatory oversight. The reforms will likely improve access to global capital in the Indian insurance sector, help with scalability, and result in significant consolidation in the Indian insurance market. Other key reforms include (i) opening up investment by insurance companies in insurtech, digital platforms, and ecosystem play; and (ii) reducing net-owned fund requirements in the reinsurance segment (which should help minimise entry barriers).
On 10 March 2026, significant amendments were approved for India’s foreign direct investment (FDI) regime governing investments from countries sharing a land border with India. Land border countries (LBCs) include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. The amendments recalibrate the restrictions originally introduced through Press Note 3 of 2020 (PN3), which required prior government approval for any FDI if the beneficial owner was situated in or was a citizen of an LBC.
Why This Matters: The amendments bring much-needed regulatory certainty by removing the ambiguity around beneficial ownership that had clouded PN3 for more than five years. For global private equity and venture capital funds, the automatic route threshold of up to 10% should unlock stalled capital flows, particularly into Indian startups and deep-tech ventures. For Indian manufacturers, the 60-day fast track signals clear government openness to joint ventures with LBC partners in critical sectors — a significant development in the context of India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat framework and Make in India initiative. However, investments exceeding the 10% threshold in non-fast track sectors will continue to require government approval with no guaranteed timeline.
This publication addresses legal developments in India. Latham & Watkins has no office in India and is not registered with the Bar Council of India. Latham is not authorized to advise on Indian law, and this publication is not a substitute for advice from counsel qualified in Indian law.
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