Debt instrument eligibility expands to securities issued by InvITs and REITs under foreign exchange management regulations.
Foreign Exchange Management (Debt Instruments) (First Amendment) Regulations, 2021 introduce definitions of Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), adopting their meanings as business trusts under the Income-tax Act, 1961. Schedule 1 is amended to include debt securities issued by InvITs and REITs within the specified category of debt securities.

Telecom sector entry route set to Automatic under non debt instruments rules, subject to DoT licensing and security conditions.
The amendment revises the telecom sector description in Schedule I to cover a comprehensive list of telecom services and infrastructure activities and specifies the Entry Route as Automatic, while requiring licensees, service providers and investors to comply with licensing, security and other terms and conditions as notified by the Department of Telecommunications.

Foreign investment liberalisation: full ownership permitted under automatic route after in-principle strategic disinvestment approval granted.
The amendment to the Non-debt Instruments Rules inserts an entry in Schedule I after Sl. No. 4.2 permitting full foreign investment under the automatic route where the Government has granted an in-principle approval for strategic disinvestment of a PSU. The change creates a specific exception enabling foreign investors to acquire complete ownership without separate government approval in those strategic disinvestment cases and comes into force on publication in the Official Gazette.

Appointment of Regional Appeals Authorities clarifies appellate jurisdiction under FEMA and assigns regional coverage for appeal hearings.
The Central Government appoints four named Regional Special Directors (Appeals) under section 17(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act to hear appeals against orders of the Adjudicating Authority, superseding an earlier notification; each appointment specifies station, zone, sub zone and the States and Union territories comprising the appellate jurisdiction and is effective from publication without affecting prior actions.

Interest cap on advance export payments limited to a small margin above LIBOR or applicable benchmark by regulatory direction.
The amendment substitutes clause (ii) of Regulation 15(1) to cap interest on advance payments for exports at a margin not exceeding one percentage point above LIBOR or another applicable benchmark as may be directed by the Reserve Bank, thereby prescribing a benchmark linked ceiling for permissible interest on such advances.

Foreign investment limit in the insurance sector updated; board residency and application routing requirements clarified for compliance.
Amendments raise the foreign investment cap for the insurance sector and require that FDI applications in private banks having an insurance JV/subsidiary be referred to the Reserve Bank in consultation with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority to ensure the sectoral cap is not breached. They also require that a majority of directors and Key Management Persons, and at least one of the Chairperson, Managing Director or Chief Executive Officer of an Indian insurance company with foreign investment, be Resident Indian Citizens, and align definitions and compliance with the Indian Insurance Companies (Foreign Investment) Rules, 2015 and IRDAI regulations.

Non-repatriation investments by NRIs excluded from indirect foreign investment calculation under amended FEMA non-debt rules.
The amendment to Rule 23(7)(i) of the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019 states that an investment made by an Indian entity owned and controlled by NRIs on a non-repatriation basis shall not be considered for calculation of indirect foreign investment, thereby excluding such non-repatriation investments from indirect investment aggregation under the non-debt instruments rules.

Margin-payment lending for government securities settlement permits authorised dealers in India to lend to non-residents, subject to prescribed conditions.
Authorised dealers in India may lend to persons resident outside India for margin payments relating to settlement transactions involving Government Securities, subject to terms and conditions specified by the Reserve Bank. Government Security bears the meaning assigned under the Government Securities Act, 2006, with securities construed accordingly.

FCRA amendment correction replaces 'from' with 'before' in operative drafting of regulations to clarify timing language.
Correction to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) (Amendment) Rules, 2020: the published notification (G.S.R. 695(E)) is amended by substituting the word "from" with "before" at the specified location (page 36, line 4) to correct the operative drafting and clarify the timing language in the rule text.

Re-export of leased aircraft and engines conditioned on DGCA deregistration and export permission under IDERA.
The amendment governs the re-export of leased aircraft/helicopter and engines/auxiliary power units (APUs) repossessed by overseas lessors, requiring deregisration by DGCA at the request of the IDERA holder under the Cape Town Convention, or arising from termination/cancellation of the lease, and makes such exports subject to DGCA or Ministry of Civil Aviation permission.