AIFs, REITs, NBFCs, Family Trusts — capital-pooling vehicles designed to move serious money. Barriers to entry are enormous. Errors cost crores.
Harini
Institutional & UHNWI diagnostic. Escalation-first.
For directional guidance. Complex and institutional situations require a professional advisor.
NRI Investment & Repatriation
Which structures you can actually use, which accounts to hold money in, and how to get profits back out of India without a FEMA violation.
Press Note 3 (2020): Bordering country screening
Any FDI from or beneficially owned by entities in China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Bhutan, or Afghanistan requires mandatory prior government approval — regardless of sector, route, or investment size. This applies even if the investor is a citizen of these countries holding a third-country passport.
Institutional structures — full details below ↓
Harini knows FEMA
Institutional & High-Net-Worth Structures K → O
Capital-pooling vehicles designed for SEBI and RBI compliance. The barriers to entry are colossal by design.
NRI Institutional Investment — FEMA & Repatriation
NRIs investing in institutional vehicles must route capital through NRE (fully repatriable) or NRO (capped at USD 1M/year) accounts. FDI automatic route is available for most sectors. FEMA pricing guidelines and RBI annual reporting apply. Schedule III of FEMA provides NRI-specific concessions on certain instruments.
Start a VC Fund or Hedge Fund
Legal Reality
An Irrevocable Private Trust under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882. 97% of AIFs are structured as trusts. SEBI registration is mandatory before a single rupee is raised.
Sub-Types — Choose the right variant
Entry Requirements
Minimum Corpus
₹20 Crore
Min. Investor Ticket
₹1 Crore
SEBI Registration
Mandatory
PPM Legal Cost
₹5L–₹15L
The Case For It
The Barriers
FAQs Before You Choose
Minimum Corpus: ₹20 Crore. An Irrevocable Private Trust under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882. 97% of AIFs are structured as trusts. SEBI registration is mandatory before a single rupee is raised.
Free Tools for This Structure
The Verdict
If you are raising money from rich people to invest in startups, real estate, or distressed assets — you register an AIF Trust. Nothing else is legally compliant.
Securitize commercial real estate or infrastructure assets
Legal Reality
A SEBI-registered Trust under the Indian Trusts Act, managed by a separate Investment Manager company and an independent Trustee company. Three distinct flavors with very different thresholds.
Sub-Types — Choose the right variant
Entry Requirements
REIT Sponsor Net Worth
₹100 Crore
SM REIT Manager Net Worth
₹20 Crore
Mandatory Distribution
90% of NDCF
Structure
SEBI Trust + IM + Trustee Co.
The Case For It
The Barriers
FAQs Before You Choose
REIT Sponsor Net Worth: ₹100 Crore. A SEBI-registered Trust under the Indian Trusts Act, managed by a separate Investment Manager company and an independent Trustee company. Three distinct flavors with very different thresholds.
Free Tools for This Structure
The Verdict
Standard REIT: Embassy / DLF scale only. SM REIT: mid-market developers with ₹50–500Cr in completed income assets. InvIT: infra developers with completed toll roads, power lines, pipelines.
Preserve and manage ultra-high-net-worth family wealth
Legal Reality
Not a single registered entity — a multi-layer strategy. Typically: Private Irrevocable Trust (asset hold) + Core Investment Company (equity stakes) + LLP (operations / management). Each layer does one job.
Sub-Types — Choose the right variant
Entry Requirements
Recommended Net Worth
₹100 Crore+
Typical Structure
Trust / CIC / LLP
CIC → NBFC Threshold
₹100 Crore assets
Trust Deed Legal Cost
₹3L–₹10L
The Case For It
The Barriers
FAQs Before You Choose
Recommended Net Worth: ₹100 Crore+. Not a single registered entity — a multi-layer strategy. Typically: Private Irrevocable Trust (asset hold) + Core Investment Company (equity stakes) + LLP (operations / management). Each layer does one job.
Free Tools for This Structure
The Verdict
Purely for wealth preservation, intergenerational asset transfer, and tax optimization for UHNWIs with ₹100Cr+ net worth. Not for operational startups or first-generation wealth under ₹50Cr.
Lend money or provide financial services without a full banking license
Legal Reality
A Pvt Ltd or Public Ltd under the Companies Act, plus a specialized Master Direction License from the RBI. 9,500+ RBI-registered NBFCs in India. The type matters enormously — each has different capital, portfolio, and reporting requirements.
Sub-Types — Choose the right variant
Entry Requirements
Min. NOF (NBFC-ICC)
₹10 Crore
Min. NOF (NBFC-HFC)
₹25 Crore
Regulator
Reserve Bank of India
SI Threshold (≥ assets)
₹500 Crore
The Case For It
The Barriers
FAQs Before You Choose
Min. NOF (NBFC-ICC): ₹10 Crore. A Pvt Ltd or Public Ltd under the Companies Act, plus a specialized Master Direction License from the RBI. 9,500+ RBI-registered NBFCs in India. The type matters enormously — each has different capital, portfolio, and reporting requirements.
Free Tools for This Structure
The Verdict
Only for fintech founders who actually want to hold loans on their balance sheet. If you're building a tech layer routing borrowers to existing banks or NBFCs, you don't need this — and taking it wastes ₹10Cr+ of capital in dead NOF.
Give farmers collective bargaining power and corporate legal structure
Legal Reality
Three distinct legal forms exist under different statutes. The government's push is toward Producer Companies (FPC) under the Companies Act — but cooperative-based FPOs remain common in states with strong cooperative history (Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala).
Sub-Types — Choose the right variant
Entry Requirements
Tax Benefit
100% u/s 140A (formerly 80PA) (≤₹100Cr turnover)
Eligible Members
Primary producers only
Voting Structure
1 member = 1 vote
Govt. FPC Promotion Scheme
10,000 FPOs / ₹6,865Cr
The Case For It
The Barriers
FAQs Before You Choose
Tax Benefit: 100% u/s 140A (formerly 80PA) (≤₹100Cr turnover). Three distinct legal forms exist under different statutes. The government's push is toward Producer Companies (FPC) under the Companies Act — but cooperative-based FPOs remain common in states with strong cooperative history (Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala).
Free Tools for This Structure
The Verdict
The only legitimate choice for agritech founders building farmer-owned supply chains. If your cap table includes standard venture investors or non-farmers, restructure as a tech company (Pvt Ltd) serving FPOs rather than becoming one.
Post-IPO governance and institutional capital access
Legal Reality
A Public Limited Company listed on NSE/BSE under the Companies Act 2013, governed by SEBI's LODR (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations 2015. The listing adds a full second regulator — SEBI — on top of MCA. Every board decision becomes a disclosure requirement.
Sub-Types — Choose the right variant
Entry Requirements
Min. Public Float
25% (SEBI MPS Norms)
Board Independence
≥50% Independent Directors
SEBI LODR
Full compliance mandatory
Annual Compliance Cost
₹50L–₹5Cr+
The Case For It
The Barriers
FAQs Before You Choose
Min. Public Float: 25% (SEBI MPS Norms). A Public Limited Company listed on NSE/BSE under the Companies Act 2013, governed by SEBI's LODR (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations 2015. The listing adds a full second regulator — SEBI — on top of MCA. Every board decision becomes a disclosure requirement.
Free Tools for This Structure
The Verdict
The endgame structure for companies crossing IPO thresholds. Not for first-generation capital raises. If you are here, you already know why — the question is LODR compliance execution and institutional IR, not whether to use this structure.
Our transparency standard
This guide is built to behave like a good advisor: no referral fees, no fuzzy answers, and no pretending that every situation needs a complex structure. When the topic gets legally sensitive, the app points you to the source and hands off to a human expert.
No referral fees
We do not earn commissions from incorporation agents. The recommendation is meant to save you money, not sell you paperwork.
Linked sources
Key claims point back to MCA, India Code, or Income Tax references so you can verify the legal basis yourself.
Human review when needed
When the question gets complex, the app escalates to a professional instead of pretending to know everything.
Freshness visible
Every major advice block carries a last-reviewed date so you can see how current the guidance is.
What we do not do
How the recommendation works
01
Regime first
We establish which regulator applies — SEBI, RBI, or Income Tax Act — before anything else. Structures cannot be mixed.
02
Thresholds second
Then we confirm corpus, NOF, and asset requirements. Missing a threshold means rejection and wasted application fees.
03
Professional required
Every institutional structure requires a principal advisor for execution. We identify the right vehicle; filing requires bespoke legal counsel.
Confidential Consultation
AIF registration, NBFC licensing, Family Trust structuring, and REIT compliance require absolute precision. One error can trigger regulatory scrutiny.
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Sources / Verify independently
This product is a directional guide, not legal advice. Rules, thresholds, and fees can change — verify any decision against the latest MCA, India Code, and Income Tax sources.
Last reviewed: May 24, 2026