From Qatar
Qatar is home to 830,491 non-resident Indians, the sixth-largest number in any country, and the two States signed a revised double taxation agreement during the Amir’s State visit of February 2025. The 1999 investment treaty was terminated on 23 March 2017 but, on its words, stays effective until 23 March 2027 for investments made before that date. This page sets out those agreements, the questions a Qatari business, a sovereign fund or an Indian living in Qatar asks first, and the practical facts of working across the border.
At a glance
- Investment into India
- USD 1,777 million
- Cumulative foreign direct investment into India from Qatar, April 2000 to March 2026: USD 1,777 million, 0.23 per cent.
- Source 1
- Indians living there
- 830,491
- 830,491 non-resident Indians live there, the sixth-largest number in any country.
- Overseas Indians in all, non-resident Indians and persons of Indian origin together: 830,491.
- Source 2
- Investment treaty
- Terminated 23 March 2017
- India-Qatar Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement. Signed 7 April 1999, in force from 15 December 1999; terminated on 23 March 2017. On its words it stays effective for ten years for investments made before that date, until 23 March 2027.
- Source 3, 4
- Double taxation agreement
- Agreement signed
- India-Qatar Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion. Agreement signed during the State visit of the Amir of Qatar, 17 and 18 February 2025; see source. The brief gives no date of entry into force.
- Source 5
India and Qatar: the legal framework
The investment treaty was terminated in 2017 and, for investments made before then, stays effective to 23 March 2027; a tax agreement was signed in February 2025.
| Area | Agreement | Status | What the source records | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investment protection | India-Qatar Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement Its page in Law | Terminated 23 March 2017 | Signed 7 April 1999, in force from 15 December 1999; terminated on 23 March 2017. On its words it stays effective for ten years for investments made before that date, until 23 March 2027. | 3, 4 |
| Double taxation | India-Qatar Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion | Agreement signed | Agreement signed during the State visit of the Amir of Qatar, 17 and 18 February 2025; see source. The brief gives no date of entry into force. | 5 |
| Trade agreement | India-Qatar Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement | Not concluded | Not concluded: in February 2025 the two sides agreed to explore one. | 5 |
| Social security | Social security agreement | None listed | Qatar is not among the partner countries on the list. | 6 |
| Documents: the Apostille Convention | Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, 1961 | Does not apply | The status table does not list Qatar among the contracting States. | 7 |
Where Qatar invests in India
The Ministry of External Affairs brief on India and Qatar lists these sectors as discussed at a meeting with a Qatari investment delegation on 27 and 28 August 2025. 9
- Transport
- Logistics
- Food processing
- Health
- Semiconductors
- Finance
Sector pages on this site
- Manufacturing
Named in the brief: Food processing; Semiconductors
Legal work for manufacturers and the trade that moves their output: incentive schemes and industrial licensing, technology transfer and IP, supply chain and carrier contracts, export control and customs.
- Infrastructure and projects
Named in the brief: Transport; Logistics
Legal work on capital projects and the resources that feed them: land acquisition and compensation, environmental clearance, statutory licensing, EPC and concession disputes, power sector regulation and mining.
- Financial services
Named in the brief: Finance
Legal work for lenders, listed companies, funds and financial technology businesses: SARFAESI and DRT enforcement, insolvency, SEBI proceedings, AIF and FEMA compliance, and the RBI licensing regimes that govern payments and digital lending.
- Healthcare and pharma
Named in the brief: Health
Legal work for hospitals, pharmaceutical and device manufacturers, and life sciences enterprises: medical negligence proceedings, CDSCO and drug regulatory compliance, NPPA price control, clinical trial regulation, and restructuring where intellectual property is the principal asset.
Where the two countries are working together
The Ministry of External Affairs brief on India and Qatar, July 2026, names among the fields of cooperation energy, food processing and semiconductors. 5
Questions from Qatar
A business from Qatar
What protects a Qatari investment in India?
The Department of Economic Affairs records the 1999 treaty as terminated on 23 March 2017; on its words it stays effective for ten years for investments made before that date, until 23 March 2027.
A new bilateral investment treaty was still under negotiation on 18 February 2025, when the leaders agreed to expedite it.
What tax rules sit beside the treaty?
A revised double taxation agreement was signed on the visit of February 2025, and Schedule V of the Income-tax Act, 2025 can exempt the income of a notified sovereign wealth fund.
Is the income of a sovereign wealth fund from Qatar on Indian infrastructure taxed?
Schedule V of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (Table, Sl. No. 7) leaves out of total income the dividend, interest and long-term capital gains that a notified foreign pension fund or sovereign wealth fund earns on investment in specified Indian infrastructure vehicles, made on or after 1 April 2020 and on or before 31 March 2030 and held for at least three years.
The fund must be named in a Central Government notification.
Can a sovereign fund co-invest alongside an Indian alternative investment fund?
Since 9 September 2025 a Category I or Category II alternative investment fund may offer its accredited investors co-investment in a portfolio company through a separate scheme of its own, capped at three times what the investor put into the same company through the main scheme.
Entities established, owned or controlled by a foreign government, including central banks and sovereign wealth funds, are outside the cap.
Can a company incorporated in Qatar invest in an Indian company without approval?
The Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019 set the routes and the conditions on which a person resident outside India may acquire equity instruments of an Indian company.
They allow it without prior approval where the sector is on the automatic route and the sectoral cap is not crossed, at a price not below fair value, with Form FC-GPR (Foreign Currency-Gross Provisional Return) filed with the Reserve Bank of India within thirty days of issue, as the note on a United States company sets out.
What does India require of a semiconductor investor or tool supplier?
Semicon 2.0, notified on 31 August 2026, supports a silicon wafer fab at 40 per cent of eligible capital expenditure, and the applicant must already show capital investment of INR 20,000 crore, revenue of INR 7,500 crore in one of the three financial years before it applies, and production grade technology it owns or licenses.
A supplier that exports, re-exports or sends for repair the advanced chip manufacturing tools on India’s export control list needs an authorisation from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade first.
Indians living in Qatar
The Ministry of External Affairs brief on India and Qatar, July 2026, records Indians as the largest expatriate community in Qatar, working in medicine, engineering, education, finance, banking, business and media as well as in blue-collar jobs. 5
When is an Indian citizen living in Qatar resident in India for tax?
Under section 6 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, on 182 days or more in India in a tax year, or on 60 days plus 365 days in the four years before; a citizen visiting from abroad is outside the 60-day test unless income other than from foreign sources exceeds INR 15 lakh, when the test runs at 120 days.
A citizen with such income above INR 15 lakh who is liable to tax in no other country is deemed resident, but only as a person not ordinarily resident.
Is interest on a Non-Resident (External) account taxed in India?
Interest on the account, the NRE account, is excluded under Schedule IV of the Income-tax Act, 2025 because the holder is resident outside India under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.
Selling a flat in India while living in Qatar: the tax and the money
For a sale in the tax year that began on 1 April 2026, the buyer withholds tax under section 393(2) of the Income-tax Act, 2025, and a non-resident’s long-term gain on a flat is taxed at 12.5 per cent under section 197.
Remitting a Non-Resident (Ordinary) Rupee account balance is limited to USD 1 million a financial year without the Reserve Bank of India’s prior approval.
Can a family member living abroad inherit property in India?
Under section 6(5) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and rule 24(c) of the Non-debt Instruments Rules, a non-resident Indian or an overseas citizen of India may inherit any immovable property in India, agricultural land included.
An authorised dealer bank may remit inherited assets and their sale proceeds abroad up to USD 1 million a financial year; whether probate or a succession certificate is also needed turns on the asset.
Signing a power of attorney in Qatar for property in India
Two routes lead to a document Indian authorities will take: signature before an Indian consular officer, or signature before a foreign notary followed by an apostille under the Hague Convention of 1961.
The status table of the Hague Conference does not list Qatar, so the Convention does not apply to a document signed there.
Practice areas and counsel for this corridor
Practice areas
- Transaction advisory
Structuring, documentation and due diligence for acquisitions, joint ventures and restructuring transactions under Indian law.
- Contracts and procurement
Drafting, review and negotiation of commercial contracts and procurement documentation across the supply chain.
- RERA and real estate
Advisory and representation on real estate regulatory compliance, project registration and disputes under the RERA framework.
- Taxation and fiscal
Advisory and litigation on goods and services tax, direct tax and indirect tax disputes before departmental and appellate forums.
Advocates who write the notes on Qatar
Advocates who write the notes for the region, The Gulf
Adv. Adithya Karthik KPartner
Adv. Harsha Swaroop PPartner
- An NRI or OCI cardholder selling a flat in India and sending the money abroad: the rules from 1 April 2026
- When an Indian citizen living abroad is resident in India for tax: the day tests, the INR 15 lakh line and not ordinarily resident
- An heir living abroad can inherit property in India, but money leaves the country only up to USD 1 million a year without Reserve Bank approval
Working across the border
The practice advises on Indian law. Where a matter turns on the law of another country it is referred to counsel qualified there, and the advice states which part rests on that referral.
Time difference
India Standard Time is five hours and thirty minutes ahead of UTC throughout the year.
- Doha is two hours and thirty minutes behind Bengaluru.
- India and Qatar do not observe daylight saving time, so the difference holds all year.
Instructions are taken between 07:00 and 21:00 India Standard Time (IST), Monday to Friday, as the offices page states. In Doha that is 04:30 to 18:30.
Documents signed there
India is a party to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, 1961, so a public document from another contracting State that carries an apostille issued by the competent authority there is accepted in India without further legalisation. The status table of the Hague Conference does not list Qatar among the contracting States, so the Convention does not apply to a document signed there.
Offices
- Bengaluru
7th Floor, Raheja Towers, East Wing, 26/27 Mahatma Gandhi Road, Craig Park Layout, Ashok Nagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560001
+91 76765 68787
- Mumbai
Unit No. 4, 3rd Floor, Inspire BKC, Village Kolekalyan, Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra East, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400051
- New Delhi
L29 to L34, First Floor, Connaught Place, New Delhi, Delhi 110001
Notes for readers there
Notes on Qatar
From the region: The Gulf
- An NRI or OCI cardholder selling a flat in India and sending the money abroad: the rules from 1 April 2026
- When an Indian citizen living abroad is resident in India for tax: the day tests, the INR 15 lakh line and not ordinarily resident
- An heir living abroad can inherit property in India, but money leaves the country only up to USD 1 million a year without Reserve Bank approval
- An Indian employee in Saudi Arabia or Kuwait where salary is untaxed: residence, salary, end-of-service pay and NRE interest under Indian tax law
- An Indian employee in Oman after the personal income tax: residence in India, deemed residence and treaty credit
- What the India-UAE Bilateral Investment Treaty protects for a UAE investor in India, and what it leaves out
- A power of attorney signed abroad to sell a flat in Bengaluru: the route, the stamp clock and the limit
- A Put Option Against a Resident: What Makes It Enforceable, and at What Price
Sources
- Official pageDepartment for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade: Quarterly Fact Sheet on Foreign Direct Investment inflow, April 2000 to March 2026dpiit.gov.in
- Official pageMinistry of External Affairs: Population of Overseas Indians, January 2026mea.gov.in
- Official pageDepartment of Economic Affairs, Bilateral Investment Treaties register, row 'Qatar' (columns Date of Agreement / Enforcement / Termination)dea.gov.in
- Note on this siteNote on this site: What protects a Qatari investor in India: the 1999 treaty's ten-year tail, no new treaty yet, and the tax rules
- Official pageMinistry of External Affairs, India-Qatar bilateral brief, July 2026mea.gov.in
- Official pageEPFO, International Workers - Social Security Agreements: 20 partner countries listed, Qatar not among themepfo.gov.in
- ConventionHague Conference on Private International Law: status table of the Apostille Convention, 1961hcch.net
- Official pageMinistry of External Affairs: Attestation and Apostillemea.gov.in
- Official pageMinistry of External Affairs, India-Qatar bilateral brief, July 2026, para on the Qatari MOS Foreign Trade Affairs visitmea.gov.in
Limits of this page
Nothing on this page is advice, and nothing on it is a statement that any provision applies to a particular set of facts. It is not an offer of engagement. Reading it creates no advocate-client relationship.
Each agreement is stated as its official source records it: a status only where the source states it, and an agreement no verified source records is left out rather than guessed. Each answer on this page restates a note, a law page or a practice page on this site, which carries the detail and its sources.