According to Art. 6.2.15 of Chapter 6 of the 2014 Consolidated Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy Circular, full foreign direct ownership is permitted in the telecommunications sector (including Category-I Telecommunications Infrastructure Providers). However, a government approval is required for FDI above 49%. This approval is also required for other regulated sectors, including FM broadcasting, up-linking of news through digital media and TV, newspapers and magazines.

The Foreign Direct Investment Policy Circular stipulates the screening of foreign ownership above 49% in single-brand retailing e-commerce entities that have both physical and digital stores (single-brand retailing in e-commerce form is only allowed when the entity also owns physical stores in India).

Indian brands should be owned and controlled resident Indian citizens and/or companies which are owned and controlled by resident Indian citizens. The term 'Indian brands' is not defined. A company is considered as 'owned' by resident Indian citizens if more than 50% of the capital is beneficially owned by resident Indian citizens and/or companies, which are ultimately owned and controlled by resident Indian citizens. The term 'control' includes the right to appoint a majority of directors or to control the management of policy decisions.
With respect to single brand retail (SBRT), local sourcing norms are prescribed which mandate that SBRT where FDI is greater than 51% are required to source 30% of the value of goods purchased by them from India (preferably from Indian MSMEs, village and cottage industries, artisans and craftsmen). In 2019, it was clarified that this local sourcing requirement of 30% is also met when the foreign retailer (operating as an SBRT in India) sources from India for its exports. Prior to 2019, only a SBRT with a physical store could undertake retail trading through e-commerce. In 2019, it was held that an SBRT company can undertake retail trading through e-commerce prior to opening a physical store, subject to the condition that the entity opens the physical stores within 2 years from the date of the start of online retail. This has allowed companies like Apple to open online stores in India, without a physical store.

According to paragraph 3.1.1 of the FDI Policy, 2020 a non-resident can invest in India subject to the conditions set out in the FDI policy, except in those sectors/activities which are prohibited. However, a citizen of Bangladesh or Pakistan can only invest pursuant to government approval.
In April 2020, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry issued the Review of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy for curbing opportunistic takeovers/acquisitions of Indian companies due to the current COVID-19 pandemic (Press Note. 3). As per the Press Note an entity of a country which shares a land border with India or where the beneficial owner of an investment into India is situated in such a country, government approval would be required. Additionally, it is provided that in the event of any direct or indirect transfer of ownership of any existing or future FDI in India such that there is a change in beneficial ownership which falls within the purview of the circumstances envisaged in the Press Note, such subsequent change in beneficial ownership will also require governmental approval.
The aforesaid change in the law was primarily targeted at China, in light of border tensions between India and China. Since the introduction of Press Note No. 3, as many as 150 private equity/venture capital investment approvals from China and Hong Kong are pending with the government.

For broadcasting services, it is mandatorily required that the majority of the directors of the company shall be Indian citizens and the CEO and the chief officer-in-charge of technical network operations and the chief security officer should be resident Indian citizens. The officers/officials of the licensee companies dealing with interception of services must be Indian citizens.

India applies a residency requirement for the members of the board of directors. Art. 149(3) of the 2013 Companies Act requires every company to have at least one director who has stayed in India for a total period of not less than 182 days in the previous calendar year.

According to the Consolidated FDI Policy Circular of 2016 and 2017, India permits up to 100 percent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in business-to-business (“marketplace-based”) electronic commerce, i.e. "providing an information technology platform by an e-commerce entity on a digital & electronic network to act as a facilitator between buyer and seller." However, India prohibits foreign investment in business-to-consumer (or “inventory-based”) electronic commerce, also defined as "e-commerce activity where the inventory of goods and services is owned by e-commerce entity and is sold to the consumers directly".
When a marketplace e-commerce entity exercises ownership or control over the inventory, the business is categorized into the inventory-based model. Additionally, India implemented regulations that expressly prohibit subsidiaries of foreign-owned marketplace-based electronic commerce sites from selling products on their parent companies’ sites. The rules also prohibit exclusivity arrangements by which electronic commerce retailers can offer a product on an exclusive basis.
The only exceptions for FDI in inventory-based electronic commerce are for food-product retailing and single-brand retailers that meet certain conditions, including the operation of physical stores in India. According to the Consolidated FDI Policy Circular of 2020, retail trading through e-commerce can also be undertaken before opening physical stores, subject to the entity opening physical stores within two years from the start of online retail. Overall, it is reported that these narrow exceptions limit the ability of many electronic commerce service suppliers to serve the Indian market.

India is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). However, the country has been an observer of the agreement since 2010.

M/s ITI Limited (a public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Telecommunications) has a reservation quota for procurements made by three state-owned telecommunications companies (BSNL, BBNL and MTNL). As per the reservation quota, which was extended in November 2018 for a period of three years, 30% of the procurement orders placed by BSNL, BBNL and MTNL are reserved for M/s ITI Ltd. Further, for items outsourced by M/s ITI Ltd. to third parties, the 30% threshold applies provided that there is a minimum 12% value addition by M/s ITI Ltd., during 2018-19, 16% value addition in 2018-19 and 20% value addition in 2020-21.

According to the E-mail Policy of the Government of India, Government employees may only use governmental email services for official communications, and cannot provide details of their governmental email account to private email service providers.

The regulation gives preference to domestically manufactured telecommunication products, in procurement of those telecommunication products which have security implications for the country and in Government procurement for its own use. The regulation imposes to notify specific guidelines for according preference to domestically manufactured telecommunication equipment and products either for reasons of security or for government procurement in accordance with relevant government decisions and policies in this regard.
The Order sets out a list of telecom products, services and works for which procurement preference is given to domestic manufacturers. The telecom products and services covered under this Order include encryption, ethernet switches, IP based soft switches, set-top boxes, wi-fi based broadband wireless access systems, among others. The local content requirements are between 30%-70%. The Order also sets out conditions for the inputs to be qualified as local content in Annexure B. Requirements in this regard include inputs such as components (integrated chips, active components, cables etc.), to be manufactured in India to be considered as local content inputs. The Order sets out that the local supplier has to manufacture equipment from component level in India and also develop local vendors for procurement of raw materials, components and parts for increasing local content.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology noted that cyber security is a strategic sector and preference will be provided by procuring governmental entities to domestically manufactured cyber security products. 'Domestically manufactured Cyber Security Product' is a product where the IP is owned by an Indian company such that the company can distribute, modify or commercialise the product without third party consent. Further, products with multiple sub-components can fall within this definition of a domestically manufactured cyber security product if the minimum local content is 60% of the total cost of the product and the total licensing fee to a third party does not extend 20% of the total cost of the product.
As per the Public Procurement (Make in India) Order 2019 for Cyber Security Products, preference is granted to a company which is incorporated and registered in India or startup firms that meet the definition set out by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), provided the revenue from the product and IP licensing accrues to the firm in India.
Types of cyber security products included in the notifications are anti-virus, cloud security, mobile security, firewall, OTP gateway, encryption subscription etc. The list of products can be found in the Public Procurement (Make in India) Order 2019 for Cyber Security Products.

The Preferential Market Access (PMA) Policy provides that domestically manufactured equipment receives preferences in government procurement and in some types of private sector procurement. The underlying objectives are India’s goals to expand its domestic manufacturing capacity and to protect the security of its telecommunications networks. India revised the PMA in December 2013, but the revised policy continues to require that domestically manufactured goods constitute a certain percentage of the electronic products procured by government entities. Detailed guidelines on the implementation of the policy were issued in November 2015.
The Notification stipulates that each Ministry or Department will satisfy a minimum percentage of their electronic product demand with local products which fulfil the minimum value addition prescribed for each item. The 2015 Guidelines provide that the minimum percentage of domestic procurement for any electronic product is 30%. The percentage of total procurement value for which preference is provided to domestic manufactured electronic products should be fixed so that competition is maximized while at the same time domestic manufacturing is encouraged. The 2013 Notification will be in operation for 10 years.
The electronic products notified in the 2013 Notification include notebooks, tablets, desktop PCs, servers, printers, keyboards, monitors, USBs, ATMs, photocopiers, scanners, faxes, smartcards, mobile handsets, hand held terminals, PC projector, POS based services. The telecom products notified in the 2013 Notification include SIM Cards, encryption platforms, leased line network equipment, WiFi access systems etc.

In 2015, India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued guidelines for a cloud computing empanelment process under which cloud computing service providers may be provisionally accredited as eligible for government procurement of cloud services. The guidelines require such providers to store all data in India to qualify for the accreditation.
In addition, Section 2.1.d of the Guidelines for Government Departments on Contractual Terms Related to Cloud Services requires that any government contracts contain a localization clause mandating that all government data residing in cloud storage networks is located on servers in India.
Furthermore, Section 1.17.4 of the Master Service Agreement: Procurement of Cloud Services outlines, among other things, that cloud service providers must offer cloud services to the purchaser from a MeitY-enrolled data centre which is located in India, the data must be stored within India, and must not be taken out of India without explicit approval by the purchaser.

India's "Public Procurement Policy for Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs)" states that the Central Government Ministries, Departments and Public Sector Undertakings shall procure a minimum of 20% of their annual value of goods or services from Indian micro and small enterprises. As per the 2018 Order, the procurement from Indian MSMEs has increased to an annual target of 25% and the Order provides a 3% reservation for women owned MSMEs within the aforesaid 25% reservation limit.