India’s Finance Ministry amended the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules on September 2 to let foreign-funded e-commerce entities hold inventory purely for export, provided the goods were made in India, which puts into force the policy announced in July. Nothing changes domestically, so Amazon and Flipkart still can’t own what they sell to Indian buyers, the restriction that has kept both in marketplace-only structures since 2019. Platforms using the exemption will have to prove on every order that the goods are Indian-origin, that they shipped under the Foreign Trade Policy 2023, and that export proceeds were realised and reported, with any slippage carrying the same penalties as breaking the domestic ban, according to Amit Agarwal at Nangia & Co.
