Manufacturing in the Indian sub-continent in 2024

India Bangladesh Pakistan Sri Lanka Nepal
Our ranking in order of preference 1 2 3 4 5
Summary at a glance
Total year 1 engagement costs (click link)? US$27,300 US$13,710 US$22,086 US$11,550 US$14,500
Total year 2 costs (incl. audit and tax)? US$18,770 US$3,500 US$12,450 US$7,450 US$3,400
Our Client must travel during the engagement? No No No No No
Total engagement period? 4 months 4 months 5 months 4 months 3 months
Corporation tax rate on net profits (click link)? 22% 25% 29% 24% 25%
Average monthly labor salary? US$169 US$95 US$131 US$108 US$100
Average monthly office rental per sq m? US$45 US$23 US$29 US$20 US$17
Average monthly warehouse rental per sq m? US$10 US$4 US$6 US$5 US$2
National resident shareholder required? No No No No No
English language proficiency % of population? 11% 18% 49% 10% 46%
Incorporation requirements
How long to secure company registration number? 2 months 1 month 3 months 2 months 1 month
Minimum number of shareholders? 2 2 2 1 3
Individual and corporate shareholders allowed? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Minimum number of directors? 2 2 2 1 1
Resident director (click link) required? Yes No No No No
Resident company secretary (click link) required? No No Yes Yes No
Minimum paid up share capital (US$)? 1,650 1 1,000 1 1
Fast turnkey solution available (click link)? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Fastest time Healy Consultants set up company? 1 month 1 month 2 months 1 month 1 month
Office premises required before co registration? No No No No No
Virtual office address will suffice? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Special permit or license required? No No No No No
Corporate director(s) allowed? No No No No No
Can be wholly foreign owned? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Company registration process is? Complex Difficult Very complex Complex Complex
Company documents in English? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Must translate shareholders and directors docs? No No No No No
Efficiency of Government co registration office? Poor Medium Poor Medium Medium
Government incorporation fees (US$) payable? 155 300 750 500 200
Public register of shareholders & directors? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Tax and accounting considerations
Corporate tax (%) payable (click link)? 22% 25% 29% 24% 25%
GST or VAT (%) payable (click link)? 14% 15% 0% 12% 13%
Average customs duty (%) on imports? 15% 15% 10% 10% 10%
Average customs duty (%) on exports? 0 0 0 0 0
Withholding tax (%) on dividend distributions? 0 20% 15% 10% 5%
Withholding tax on distributions (%) to Singapore? 0 15% 13% 10% 5%
Annual financial statements required? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Statutory independent annual audit required? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Monthly accounting and tax reporting required? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Tax incentives for manufacturing start-ups? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Access to how many double tax treaties? 94 30 57 39 7
Number of tax exempt free zones available? 0 8 0 0 0
Corporate bank account considerations
DBS India SCB Bangladesh SCB Pakistan SCB Sri Lanka SCB Nepal
How long to open corporate bank account? 4 weeks 5 weeks 5 weeks 4 weeks 5 weeks
Do I travel to open the bank account? No No Yes Yes Yes
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Must have a local bank signatory? No No No No No
Corporate ATM cards available? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Good internet banking available? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Funds transfer currency controls Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Bank rating by World Economic Forum? 4.3 4.2 4.8 5.8 4.2
Ease of getting credit by WEF? score (1-7) 3.6 2.4 2.6 2.9 2.3
Employment considerations
Average skilled labour monthly salary? US$254 US$143 US$197 US$162 US$150
Average unskilled labour monthly salary? US$127 US$72 US$104 US$93 US$80
Average pension/insurance benefits (%) of salary? 18 0 0 3 0
Minimum national salary? US$0 US$19 US$127 US$50 US$79
Mandatory labor unions? No No No No No
Minimum notice to dismiss employees? 1 month 1 week 1 month 1 month 1 month
Minimum redundancy indemnity? 2 weeks 4 weeks 4 weeks 10 weeks 4 weeks
Quota ratio of foreign workers to local staff? No 5% No No No
How long to get work permit approved? 3 months 3 months 4 months 3 months 2 months
Manufacturing considerations
Cost per unit of electricity (US$)? 0.07 0.07 0.08 0.1 0.09
Rank for getting electricity (click link) 4 40 73 93 22
Warehousing space rental (per sq. m.)? US$10 US$4 US$6 US$5 US$2
Ranking for transport infrastructure (click link) (1-7 best) 4.5 2.7 3.4 4.1 2.4
Ranking for customs procedures out of 7 (click link)? 3.9 3.5 3.7 4 3.2
Government incentives for startups? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Computer literacy (%) of population? 7% 8% 10% 25% 10%
Internet connectivity rating? Satisfactory Poor Satisfactory Satisfactory Poor
Global business efficiency index (click link)? 71 103 129 73 102
Preferred manufacturing city? Mumbai Dhaka Karachi Colombo Kathmandu
Proximity of sea port in kilometers? 23 279 16 4 927
Proximity of airport in kilometers? 8 8 17 16 4
Proximity of rail in kilometers? 2 4 2 2 222
Literacy % of population (click link)? 71 62 58 93 64
Local purchasing power in USD (GDP per capita) 1,598 1,093 1,334 3,631 697
Local market size (in millions of people) 1,295m 159m 185m 21m 28m
Average annual inflation rate (%)? 6 7 7 3 8
Average unemployment rate (%)? 4 4 5 4 3
Most common industry in the country? Software Textiles Textiles Product Processing Tourism
Ease of doing business index (click link) 142 173 128 99 108
Country rating (click link) BBB- BB- B- B+ N/A
Most common import into the country? Crude Oil Petroleum Food Textile fabrics Petroleum
Most common export from the country? Software Textiles Linens Textile Carpets

Contact us

For additional information on our manufacturing in the Indian sub-continent services, please contact our in-house country expert, Ms. Chrissi Zamora, directly:
client relationship officer - Chrissi