Under Condition 39.23(viii) of the Unified Licence Agreement granted by the Department of Telecommunications, licensees are not permitted to transfer “subscriber accounting information” (except for roaming and related billing purposes) or “user information” (except if pertaining to foreign subscribers using an Indian Operator’s network while roaming, and International Private Leased Circuit subscribers) to any person or place outside of India. “User information” is not defined by Indian telecommunications law, and the requirements do not restrict financial disclosures imposed by statute. Condition 39.23(iii) prohibits the transfer of domestic technical network details to any place outside of India.

Section 4 of the Public Records Act states that no person shall take or cause to be taken public records out of India without the prior approval of the Central Government, except if done for any official purpose. 

India’s National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy requires that “non-sensitive data available either in digital or analogue forms but generated using public funds” must be stored within the borders of India. The policy states that data belongs to the "agency/department/ministry/entity which collected them and resides in their IT-enabled facility” (Section 10).

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 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 localisation 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.

Rule 3.5 of the Companies (Accounts) Rules of 2014 provides that if company books and papers (or backups of them) are kept electronically in any location, they must also be periodically stored on a server physically located in India. 

In April 2018, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a one-page directive stating that, within six months, all payment data held by payment companies should be held in local facilities. The Directive noted that this would help the RBI gain "unfettered supervisory access" to transaction data, which it needs to ensure proper monitoring.
Following a negative response from international payment companies such as MasterCard, Visa and American Express, the RBI has proposed (in "Frequently Asked Questions" of its website) to ease this restriction so as to allow payment firms to store data offshore as long as a copy was kept in India. The RBI has further clarified that for cross-border transaction data consisting of a foreign component and a domestic component, a copy of the domestic component may be stored abroad if required.
With respect to the processing of payment transactions outside India, the RBI requires that the data must be stored only in India after processing and should be deleted from systems abroad and brought back to India no later than 24 hours after processing. Any subsequent activity, such as settlement processing after payment processing done outside India, must be undertaken on a real-time basis, pursuant to which the data must be stored only in India.
The RBI has clarified that banks, especially foreign banks, can continue to store banking data abroad. Still, with respect to domestic payment transactions, the data must be stored only in India.

According to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) Maintenance of Insurance Records Regulations, 2015 (Regulation 3.9), "Insurers are required that [...] (ii) the records pertaining to policies issued and claims made in India (including the records held in electronic form) are held in data centres located and maintained in India." In addition, the 2017 Regulations on Outsourcing of Activities by Indian Insurers provide that Indian insurers, even in cases where they outsource their services outside India, must retain all original records in India.

Rule 7 of Information Technology Rules 2011 states that the export of sensitive personal data or information within or outside India is permissible, provided that the same standards of data protection required in India are adhered to and that transfer is necessary for the performance of a lawful contract or has been consented to by the provider of the information. Sensitive personal information includes passwords, financial information such as bank account or credit/debit card details, sexual orientation, physical and mental health condition, and biometric information, among others.

India has not joined any agreement with binding commitments to open transfers of data across borders.

India has not yet enacted specific legislation concerning data protection. Currently, the regulation of personal data processing is primarily governed by the Information Technology Act of 2000 and the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules of 2011, which were promulgated under the Act. Additionally, sector-specific laws, such as those applicable to the financial services and telecommunications sectors, contribute to the regulatory framework.
The Digital Personal Data Protection Act was enacted on 11 August 2023 and will come into force on a date to be notified by the Government of India. As of February 2024, the Act has not yet become effective. Once in effect, the Act is expected to establish a comprehensive data protection regime in India.

Section 5 of Direction No. 20(3)/2022-CERT-In mandates data centres, virtual private server providers, cloud service providers, and virtual private network service providers to mandatorily collect and retain certain subscriber-related information accurately for a minimum period of five years after the subscriber is no longer availing the underlying services. These data sets include subscriber names, period of hire including dates, IPs allocated and used, e-mail address along with IP and time stamp used at time of registration, purpose of availing the services, verified address and contact numbers, and ownership pattern of subscribers. Virtual asset service providers, virtual asset exchange providers and custodian wallet providers must also maintain KYC information and records of financial transactions for a period of 5 years. Specific to transaction records, Direction No. 20(3)/2022-CERT-In states that information must be maintained accurately in such a way that individual transactions can be reconstructed along with the relevant constituents such as IP addresses, time zones, transaction ID, public keys or equivalent identifiers, addresses or accounts involved, nature and date of transaction, amount transferred, etc.

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 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy Circular 2020, broadcasting services require that a majority of the company’s directors are Indian citizens. Additionally, the CEO, the chief officer responsible for technical network operations, and the chief security officer must all be resident Indian citizens. Furthermore, officers or officials of the licensee companies involved in the interception of services must also be Indian citizens. This requirement has been in effect since the implementation of the Consolidated Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy Circular 2013 (Section 6.2.7.6)

India has traditionally implemented FDI screening for investors from Bangladesh and Pakistan. According to Section 3.1.1 of the Consolidated FDI Policy 2020, non-resident entities may invest in India, subject to the conditions specified in the policy, except in prohibited sectors or activities. However, investment by citizens of Bangladesh or Pakistan is permitted solely through government approval. This regulatory requirement has been in effect since the enactment of the Consolidated FDI Policy Circular 2013 (Section 3.1.1).
Notwithstanding this framework, in April 2020, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry introduced the Review of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy for Curbing Opportunistic Acquisitions of Indian Companies (Press Note 3). Under this policy revision, the FDI regime was expanded to mandate government approval for investments from any entity based in a country that shares a land border with India. Furthermore, the policy stipulates that any direct or indirect transfer of ownership of existing or future FDI in India, which results in a change in beneficial ownership falling within the scope of the conditions set forth in the Press Note, will similarly require government approval.
This legislative adjustment primarily targeted China in response to escalating border tensions between the two nations. Since the introduction of Press Note No. 3, an estimated 150 private equity and venture capital investment applications from China and Hong Kong have remained pending government clearance.

According to Section. 6.2.14 of the 2020 Consolidated Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy Circular, full foreign direct ownership is permitted in the telecommunications sector (including Category-I Telecommunications Infrastructure Providers). However, government approval is required for FDI above 49%. This regulatory requirement has been in effect since the enactment of the Consolidated FDI Policy Circular 2013 (Section 6.2.15).