India: Corporate/Commercial Law

SEMM forms part of the Sanlam group of South Africa, whose ultimate controlling parent, Sanlam Limited, is entirely publicly held. SLIC provides life insurance in India and is held, inter alia, by Shriram Capital Private Limited (‘SCPL’) and SEMM.

On August 17, 2026, the Department of Telecommunications ("DoT") issued Circular no. 3/User Identification/2026 ("2026 Circular") to strengthen enforcement of the existing limits on mobile connections held by individual subscribers. Under the DoT instructions dated August 09, 2012, read with the reverification framework issued on December 07, 2021 ("2021 Instructions"), an individual may hold a maximum of nine mobile connections across all Telecom Service Providers ("TSPs") and Licensed Service Areas ("LSAs"), with a lower limit of six connections in Jammu & Kashmir, Assam and the North-East LSAs.

Most foreign companies spend months deciding how to enter India, i.e., whether to set up a subsidiary, form a joint venture with a local partner or open a branch. Far fewer spend the same effort on what happens once the entity exists. Yet it is usually after entry, when the business is running and the relationships are tested, that the gap between what an investor expected and what Indian law actually gives it becomes visible.