New Delhi · IndiaWONE Global Partner · India
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Business corridor
India ↔ Saudi Arabia
Doing business between India and Saudi Arabia means getting market access, tax, contracts, people and regulation right on both sides. WONE Global coordinates the work in both countries, so one team keeps it joined up.
Mumbai · Wednesday 4 November
00:23
Local time
Shared working hours
—
Riyadh · Tuesday 3 November
21:53
Local time
Worked example
A common move on this corridor, both sides
A step-by-step example of a common project between India and Saudi Arabia: the rules in each country, the usual structures and the questions to ask your advisers.
How the work runs on both sides
A worked journey for this corridor
What has to happen in each country, in what order, and what one side changes for the other, with the sources for each step.
- An Indian IT and engineering services company sets up a Saudi entity to bid for government work →An Indian IT and engineering services company sets up a Saudi Arabian entity so it can bid for and deliver contracts with Saudi government bodies and giga-projects. It must register with the Ministry of Investment, choose between a permane… 13 steps · 6 workstreams · 40 sourced statements
Key questions
Questions this corridor raises
- 01What is the commercial objective on each side of the corridor?
- 02Which entities, contracts or licences are required?
- 03How will money, people, goods or data move between the markets?
- 04Which capabilities need to be coordinated rather than handled separately?
Typical work
Work that moves along this corridor
Market accessCapital & transactionsTrade & supply chainPeople & operations
Tax, legal, people and money questions on one side change the answer on the other. WONE Global plans the work in both countries together before anything starts.
Partner firms
Who handles each service, in both markets
Named WONE Global leads where they exist; everything else arranged by WONE Global on request, with the name confirmed before work begins.
WONE Global Partners
Professionals on both sides
New Delhi · India
Riyadh · Saudi ArabiaWONE Global Partner · Saudi Arabia
Abdullah Yousef Alhussaini
Abdullah Yousef Al-Hussaini (License No. 992) is a seasoned accounting and auditing professional with a career spanning leading roles at Ernst & Young (EY) and one of Saudi Arabia’s largest insurance companies, includin…
Jeddah · Saudi ArabiaWONE Global Partner · Saudi Arabia
Abdulrahim bin Saleh Al-Zahrani
Cases
Cases across this corridor
Cases whose typical case involves one or both sides of the corridor, each with how WONE Global handles it and who handles it in each market.
Urgent Our key hire's work visa was refused. What now?Immigration, visas & global mobilityHow do we prepare our group for a sale or a new investor?Mergers, acquisitions & private equityHow do we register our trade mark in other countries?Trademarks, brands & counterfeitingUrgent How do we stop the other side moving assets or destroying evidence?Contracts, commercial disputes & collectionsUrgent We've received a tax notice from another country. Do we have to pay?Tax assessments, disputes & managementUrgent We've received a legal letter from another country. How serious is it?Restructuring, insolvency & business recoveryUrgent The tax authority wants our transfer pricing documentation. We don't have any.International tax planning & transfer pricingUrgent Someone abroad is pretending to be our company. How do we stop it?Cybercrime, data breaches & AI disputesUrgent Investors want our company moved to Delaware or Singapore before they invest.Corporate ownership & governanceShould we open a branch, a subsidiary or just use a distributor abroad?Market entry, licensing & government engagementWhy won't any bank open an account for our new foreign company?Banking, lending & secured financeShould we appoint a distributor or an agent abroad, and how do we protect ourselves?Contracts, commercial disputes & collections
Scenarios
Across this corridor, how it is handled
Worked scenarios involving either side of the corridor: the client, where it comes from, what it ran into and how WONE Global handles it.
Worked scenarios
- Mid-sized company · from Germany · in Saudi ArabiaEngineering firm, about 400 staffIt has won its first Saudi contract and must be able to invoice and staff the project within weeks. The choice is between a branch, a local company or working through a local agent, and each carries different tax, licensing and liability consequences.How WONE Global handles it →
- Mid-sized company · from India · in United Arab EmiratesTrading company, Indian-ownedIts new Dubai company has been refused by two banks because its ownership runs through three countries. Without an account it cannot receive revenue or pay staff.How WONE Global handles it →
- Mid-sized company · from Switzerland · in United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, QatarMedical-device makerIt is about to sign a ten-year exclusive distributor for the Gulf. In some Gulf countries a registered agent can be very hard to remove.How WONE Global handles it →
- Mid-sized company · from Sweden · in IndiaEngineering companyIts Indian subsidiary reports late every month and in a format the group cannot consolidate.How WONE Global handles it →
Scenarios are representative of the work WONE Global coordinates, not specific client matters.
What the guides say
Both sides: India ↔ Saudi Arabia
The essentials of each market on the topics that decide how work between them is set up.
India
Full guide
- Corporate income tax (domestic company, optional regime)
- 22% plus 10% surcharge and 4% cess
- Corporate income tax (foreign company)
- 35% basic rate, plus surcharge and cess
- Income tax law
- Income-tax Act, 2025 in force from 1 April 2026
- GST rates
- 5% and 18%, with 40% for a select few goods and services (from 22 September 2025)
- Labour law
- Four labour codes in force from 21 November 2025
- FDI entry
- Automatic route (no prior approval) or government route (prior approval)
Saudi Arabia
Full guide
- Foreign investment entry
- Registration with the Ministry of Investment before investing
- Companies Law in force
- 19 January 2023
- Corporate income tax
- 20% (non-Saudi share)
- Zakat
- 2.5% of zakat base (Saudi and GCC share)
- VAT
- 15%; registration mandatory above SAR 375,000
- Withholding tax on dividends
- 5% (treaty rates may be lower)
| Topic | India | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| Establish & Structure | Foreign investors can set up a wholly owned subsidiary, joint venture or LLP, or operate through a branch, liaison or project office. Read more | Foreign investors register with the Ministry of Investment (MISA) before investing, under an Investment Law that replaced the former foreign-investment licence with a registration process. Read more |
| Tax & Statutory | The Income-tax Act, 2025 has governed income from 1 April 2026, with a single tax year in place of the previous year and assessment year, while the 1961 Act still governs earlier years. Domestic companies can opt for a 22% rate (plus surcharge and cess). Read more | Saudi Arabia splits company profits by ownership: the foreign-owned share pays 20% income tax and the Saudi and GCC-owned share pays 2.5% zakat on its zakat base. Read more |
| People, Payroll & Mobility | The four labour codes (wages, industrial relations, social security, and occupational safety, health and working conditions) took effect on 21 November 2025 and replaced 29 central labour laws. Read more | Private-sector employment is governed by the Labor Law administered by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development. Read more |
| Banking, Treasury & Payments | Foreign investment is governed by the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and the rules and regulations made under it, with the RBI issuing Master Directions that banks apply day to day. Read more | The riyal has been fixed at 3.75 to the US dollar since 1986, and the IMF's 2025 review found the peg remains appropriate. Read more |
| Trade, Customs & Supply Chain | Anyone importing into or exporting from India needs an Importer-Exporter Code from the DGFT, which is the business's PAN. Imports carry basic customs duty, generally 7.5% or 10%, plus a social welfare surcharge and IGST, so landed cost must be modelled by… Read more | Saudi Arabia applies the GCC common external tariff, generally 5% on goods from outside the GCC, and ZATCA runs customs clearance through the FASAH platform. Imports also carry 15% VAT and, for some goods, excise tax. Read more |
| Disputes, Enforcement & Exit | Arbitration in India is governed by the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996: awards made in India are enforced as court decrees once the three-month challenge window closes, and foreign awards are enforced under the New York Convention, which India applies… Read more | Commercial disputes go to specialised commercial courts under the Commercial Courts Law of 2020, while disputes with government contracting bodies generally go to the Board of Grievances. Read more |
Our full guides are checked against official sources. Guides drafted with AI are marked as such. None of this is legal or tax advice.
WONE Global Intelligence
Ask about the India ↔ Saudi Arabia corridor
Ask in your own words. Answers come from WONE Global's checked records, with every source shown, and end with the named Partner who can act. Go deeper on any point, or build a decision file.
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Work between India and Saudi Arabia, coordinated on both sides.
UNBOUNDED™ · Global Business Circuit™
Work through India ↔ Saudi Arabia with the leaders doing it.
Bring a live question about this corridor to a small online session of senior business leaders, run by UNBOUNDED™, the ecosystem WONE Global belongs to.
The Global Business Circuit™
One corridor, 60 minutes online, 12 senior business leaders. The leaders' own questions set the agenda; market and professional perspectives join only where the questions call for them.
WONE Global is one of the six institutions of the UNBOUNDED™ Global Ecosystem. Links open unboundedglobal.com. WONE Global in the ecosystem
WONE Global Partners
Professionals for this work
Named professionals connected to this page — each admitted as the specialist for one kind of work in their country, at a firm WONE Global has admitted.