India Site Visit Checklist: What to Inspect Before Committing

Why a Physical Site Visit in India Is Non-Negotiable

Before boarding the flight, request title deeds covering the past 30 years of ownership chain, an encumbrance certificate from the sub-registrar's office, and — for any manufacturing site — the SPCB Consent to Operate and the factory licence or establishment registration required under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020. These documents surface the gaps that paper due diligence and a Google Maps search miss: a factory with unresolved pollution board notices, an office in a flood-prone zone with unreliable power backup, or a warehouse whose access road becomes impassable during monsoon season.

For foreign companies entering India through a wholly owned subsidiary, branch office, or joint venture, the site visit is where assumptions meet reality. This checklist is designed for executives, CFOs, and operations heads conducting their first or follow-up site inspections in India.

Pre-Visit Preparation

Assembling Your Team

A productive site visit requires the right mix of expertise. Your team should include:

• Legal advisor familiar with Indian property law, FEMA regulations, and local zoning requirements
• Chartered accountant or financial analyst to evaluate cost structures and tax implications
• Technical or operations specialist relevant to your industry (engineering, manufacturing, IT infrastructure)
• Local consultant who understands state-specific regulations, labour dynamics, and vendor ecosystems

Documents to Request Before Arrival

Before boarding the flight, request and review these documents from the site owner or partner:

1. Title deeds or lease agreements (for the past 30 years of ownership chain)
2. Encumbrance certificate from the sub-registrar's office
3. Approved building plans and occupancy certificate
4. Property tax receipts (last 3 years)
5. Environmental clearances (if manufacturing or industrial)
6. SPCB (State Pollution Control Board) Consent to Operate
7. Factory licence or establishment registration (if applicable under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020)
8. Fire safety NOC (No Objection Certificate)
9. Electricity and water connection details, including backup provisions
10. Existing litigation, if any, related to the property

Office and Commercial Space Inspection

Location and Accessibility

• Commute test: Drive the route from the nearest airport, railway station, and metro stop during peak hours. Note actual travel times versus what you were told.
• Employee accessibility: Assess public transport options for local employees. Short map distances are a poor guide to travel time in the larger metros — time the actual journey at the hours your staff would travel.
• Neighbourhood quality: Walk the surrounding area. Are there banks, restaurants, hospitals, and pharmacies within reasonable distance?
• Flood history: Ask neighbours and local shopkeepers about waterlogging during monsoon. Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, and parts of Delhi-NCR have chronic flooding issues in certain pockets.

Building Compliance and Documentation

• Occupancy certificate (OC): Verify the building has a valid OC from the municipal corporation. Without this, the building is technically unauthorised.
• Completion certificate (CC): Confirms the building was constructed as per approved plans.
• Fire safety compliance: Check for valid fire NOC, fire exits on every floor, fire extinguishers within expiry date, and functioning sprinkler systems.
• Structural audit: For any older building, request the most recent structural audit report. In Mumbai, section 353B of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act requires the owner of a building beyond a prescribed age to have it structurally audited — confirm the current threshold and the audit cycle with the municipal corporation, since it varies by city.

Infrastructure Quality

• Power supply: Note the electricity provider, sanctioned load (in KVA), and actual power availability. Ask the distribution licensee and the neighbouring occupiers about outage frequency and duration over the last two summers, and verify DG (diesel generator) backup capacity against your critical load.
• Internet connectivity: Test the actual broadband speed on-site. Do not rely on stated speeds. Check if fibre-optic connectivity from multiple providers is available (Airtel, Jio, Tata, ACT).
• Water supply: Verify the source (municipal, borewell, or tanker), daily availability, and whether water storage tanks are adequate.
• HVAC systems: Check the age, maintenance history, and capacity of air conditioning systems. In Indian summers (April-June), temperatures exceed 40°C in most northern cities.
• Lifts and common areas: Test all lifts for functionality. Inspect common areas, parking facilities, and security arrangements.

Factory and Manufacturing Facility Inspection

Licensing and Regulatory Compliance

The Factories Act, 1948 was repealed and replaced by the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, which came into force on 21 November 2025 (section 143 of the Code repeals thirteen earlier enactments, the Factories Act among them). Under section 2(w) of the Code, a "factory" is premises where twenty or more workers work with the aid of power, or forty or more without power, and every such establishment must be registered under section 3. Licences, registrations and State rules made under the old Act continue in force under the repeal-and-savings provision in section 143 until they are replaced — so an operating site will normally still hold a State factory licence. During your inspection, verify:

• Factory licence or registration: Valid and displayed on-premises. Check the number, validity period, and authorised workforce capacity, and ask whether the occupier has re-registered under the OSH Code or is still running on a licence saved from the Factories Act regime.
• SPCB Consent to Operate (CTO): This is mandatory for any unit generating emissions or effluents. CTO validity is tied to the industry's Red, Orange or Green classification under the CPCB's categorisation — the CPCB's own direction points to 5, 10 and 15 years respectively — but the period actually granted is set by the State board, so check the certificate itself.
• Consent to Establish (CTE): If the facility is new or expanding, verify the CTE is in place.
• Environmental clearance: Projects above certain thresholds require clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) or State-level authorities.
• BIS certification: For products requiring Bureau of Indian Standards certification, verify current certificates are in place.

Labour Law Compliance

The thresholds moved when the OSH Code replaced the Factories Act on 21 November 2025, and several of them moved in the direction of more coverage, not less. Check against the Code, not against pre-2025 checklists:

• Working hours: No worker may be required or allowed to work more than eight hours in a day (section 25); the weekly ceiling, intervals and spread-over are fixed by the appropriate Government. Overtime is payable at twice the ordinary rate of wages (section 27).
• Canteen: Required where one hundred or more workers, including contract labour, are ordinarily employed (section 24(1)(v)) — down from the 250-worker trigger under section 46 of the Factories Act.
• Crèche: Section 24(3) requires a crèche in an establishment where more than fifty workers are ordinarily employed, and it lets an establishment use a common crèche run by the Central or State Government, a municipality or a private entity. The test is now total workers, not "30 or more women workers" as it was under the Factories Act.
• Sanitation facilities: Section 23(2) requires sufficient latrine and urinal accommodation provided separately for male, female and transgender employees, maintained hygienically, in the manner prescribed by the rules made under the Code. Ask which rules the site is being held to — State rules saved from the Factories Act regime are still being applied in many States.
• Safety equipment and first aid: Verify personal protective equipment (PPE), safety signage in the local language, and first-aid boxes readily accessible during all working hours (section 24(1)(vii)). An ambulance room is required where more than five hundred workers are ordinarily employed (section 24(2)(i)).
• Inspection records: Ask to see the records of visits by the Inspector-cum-Facilitator (the Code's successor to the factory inspector) and the entries made at the most recent inspection.

Production Capability Assessment

• Machinery age and condition: Note the make, model, and year of installation of critical equipment. Worn-out machinery is a red flag for quality and safety.
• Quality control processes: Ask to see QC records, rejection rates, and customer complaint logs.
• Raw material storage: Inspect storage conditions, inventory management systems, and material traceability.
• Waste management: Verify effluent treatment plants (ETP), solid waste handling, and hazardous waste disposal procedures. Ask for the latest SPCB inspection report.

Warehouse and Logistics Facility Inspection

Structural and Safety Checks

• Roof condition: Check for leaks, rust (in metal roofing), and adequate height for stacking and forklift operations.
• Floor load capacity: Ask for the structural drawings and the designed floor loading in tonnes per square metre, and check it against your intended racking and forklift loads. Heavy industrial use generally needs reinforced flooring that a general-purpose warehouse slab will not provide.
• Ventilation and temperature control: Essential for perishable goods, pharmaceuticals, and temperature-sensitive electronics.
• Fire safety: Check for sprinkler coverage, fire hydrant access, compartmentalisation, and distance from the nearest fire station.
• Security: CCTV coverage, boundary walls, security guards, vehicle entry/exit logs.

Logistics and Access

• Road access: Can heavy trucks (16-wheel trailers) reach the facility? Are roads accessible during monsoon?
• Proximity to ports, airports, and rail freight terminals: Measure actual drive times, not straight-line distances.
• Loading and unloading infrastructure: Dock levellers, loading bays, yard space for truck parking and turnaround.
• Connectivity to national highways: Distance to the nearest NH or state highway junction.

Land and Property Title Verification

This is where many foreign investors encounter problems. India's land records system, while improving, remains complex:

Critical Title Checks

• Chain of title: Trace ownership back at least 30 years through sale deeds registered at the sub-registrar's office.
• Encumbrance certificate (EC): Obtain from the sub-registrar to confirm no mortgages, liens, or legal claims exist on the property.
• Mutation records: Verify that revenue records (7/12 extract in Maharashtra, Patta in Tamil Nadu, Khata in Karnataka) reflect the current owner.
• Land use classification: Confirm the land is zoned for your intended use — residential, commercial, or industrial. Agricultural land cannot be used for commercial purposes without conversion (NA order in Maharashtra, CLU in other states).
• Litigation search: Search district and high court records for any pending disputes involving the property.

RERA Compliance (for Commercial Developments)

Under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, commercial projects above certain thresholds must be registered with the state RERA authority. Verify:

• RERA registration number of the project (searchable on the state RERA portal)
• Developer's track record and complaint history
• Approved plans versus actual construction

FEMA Considerations for Foreign Companies

Under FEMA regulations, a foreign company with a branch office in India may acquire immovable property for carrying on its business operations, subject to RBI filing requirements. However, foreign nationals on business visits cannot purchase property directly. FDI in construction development (as opposed to leasing) is subject to specific sectoral conditions, including minimum area and capital requirements.

Environmental and Sustainability Assessment

• Air quality: If the site is in a heavily industrialised zone, check ambient air quality data from the SPCB. Prolonged exposure to poor air quality affects employee health and can create liability issues.
• Water table and contamination: For sites with borewells, request water quality test reports. Ground contamination from neighbouring industries is a real risk in industrial corridors.
• Noise levels: Industrial zones near residential areas face noise restrictions. Verify whether the facility operates within the ambient standards in the Schedule to the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 — 75 dB(A) Leq by day and 70 dB(A) Leq at night for an industrial area.
• Waste disposal history: Ask for the facility's hazardous waste manifest (if applicable) and verify compliance with the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016.

People and Culture Assessment

Numbers and documents tell you about compliance. A site visit tells you about culture:

• Worker demeanour: Are workers engaged and busy, or idle? Is there visible tension between management and floor staff?
• Management transparency: How readily does the site manager answer questions? Evasiveness about compliance records or reluctance to open certain areas is a red flag.
• Labour relations: Ask about union presence, recent strikes or disputes, and the overall industrial relations climate in the locality.
• Local talent availability: If you're planning to hire locally, check the availability of skilled workers, prevailing wage rates, and competition for talent from neighbouring facilities.

State-Specific Considerations

India is a federation of 28 states, each with its own regulatory nuances. Site visit priorities vary by state:

Maharashtra (Mumbai, Pune)

Verify NA (Non-Agricultural) conversion orders for any industrial or commercial land. Mumbai has strict FSI (Floor Space Index) regulations that limit construction density. Check for Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) restrictions if the site is near the coastline.

Karnataka (Bangalore)

Bangalore faces chronic water scarcity and traffic congestion. Verify borewell registration and water availability independently. KIADB (Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board) allotted plots have specific transfer restrictions for foreign-owned entities.

Tamil Nadu (Chennai)

Chennai is flood-prone. Check historical flood maps (2015 floods affected major industrial areas). SIPCOT (State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu) industrial plots have established compliance frameworks but verify individually.

Gujarat (Ahmedabad, GIFT City)

Gujarat's single-window clearance system (iPortal) is among India's most efficient. GIFT City IFSC offers special regulatory benefits for financial services companies, including relaxed FEMA requirements.

Telangana (Hyderabad)

TS-iPASS (Telangana State Industrial Project Approval and Self-Certification System) commits to time-bound industrial clearances, with a deemed-approval mechanism if the department misses its deadline. The headline timeline differs by project size and approval type, so take the number that applies to you from the TS-iPASS portal rather than from a general figure. Hyderabad's Genome Valley and Pharma City have pre-approved environmental clearances for specific activities.

IT Infrastructure and Data Centre Considerations

For technology companies setting up offices or data centres in India, additional site-specific checks apply:

• Power redundancy: Verify dual power feed from separate substations. Data centres require 99.99% uptime, which needs N+1 UPS and DG redundancy.
• Network connectivity: Confirm availability of multiple last-mile fibre providers. Check latency to major internet exchanges (NIXI nodes in Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi).
• Physical security: Biometric access control, man-trap entries, and CCTV with a retention period long enough for your own control set. SOC 2 and ISO 27001 set control objectives rather than a fixed retention period, so fix the number from your auditor's requirements, not from a rule of thumb.
• Seismic zone: India is divided into four seismic zones, II to V, under IS 1893 (the BIS seismic zoning map). Critical infrastructure in Zone IV or V (parts of Delhi-NCR, Northeast, J&K) needs earthquake-resistant design certification.

For companies establishing private limited companies in India, the office space must meet the registered office requirements under the Companies Act, 2013 — specifically, the ability to receive and acknowledge statutory communications.

Post-Visit Documentation

A site visit is only as valuable as the report that follows. Document everything within 48 hours:

1. Photo and video documentation of every area inspected, with timestamps
2. Compliance gap analysis — list every regulatory non-compliance observed with cost estimates for remediation
3. Risk register — infrastructure risks (power, water, flooding), legal risks (title disputes, zoning issues), and operational risks (labour, logistics)
4. Cost comparison — actual costs observed versus what was presented in negotiations
5. Go/no-go recommendation with clear reasoning

Share this report with your FDI advisory team, legal counsel, and financial advisors before making any commitment.

Key Takeaways

• Never commit to a site in India based solely on documents and virtual tours. A physical inspection reveals ground realities that paperwork cannot capture.
• Bring a multi-disciplinary team: legal, financial, technical, and a local consultant who understands state-specific nuances.
• Verify all licences and regulatory clearances on-site — factory licence, SPCB consent, fire NOC, occupancy certificate, and environmental clearances.
• Check land title going back 30 years and confirm the property is zoned for your intended use.
• Document everything within 48 hours and share with your tax and FDI advisory team before proceeding.
• For end-to-end support with subsidiary setup and site selection in India, work with professionals who have on-ground experience across Indian states.