About OIFC

The Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre (OIFC) was set up in the year 2007 as a Public Private Partnership between the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs & the CII, with the objective of helping Overseas Indians to expand their economic engagement with India.

OIFC serves as the “one stop shop”, especially, for the Indian diaspora professionals and small/ mid-sized entrepreneurs to build strong inter linkages with India, enabling them to expand their economic engagement with India. The centre facilitates with the credibility extended under the umbrella of the Government, the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs’ (MOIA), and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), an institutional industry chamber, coupled with the support of a network of ‘Knowledge Partners’, Indian states, Indian missions and Indian diaspora associations. Also, OIFC is governed by a Council of prominent Overseas Indians, Industry leaders and senior policy makers from the Government.

• Approximately 11000 Overseas Indians received answers to their queries in the areas of returning to India, taxation, market entry, capital markets, real estate, FDI, FEMA etc.
• The average time taken to answer the queries of Overseas Indians reduced from 10-15 days to approximately 6-7 days.
• Over 16,000 Overseas Indians and Indian companies have networked with each other through OIFC's online business networking portal.
• The monthly e-Newsletter 'IndiaConnect' is quite popular with more than 40,000 subscribers.
• Approximately 8,34,556 unique visitors came to the OIFC portal from different parts of the world.
• Registrations received from 189 countries.
• About 6650 Overseas Indians engaged with India through OIFC activities.
• 22 Diaspora Engagement Meets conducted in Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Europe, Middle East, North America and South East Asia.
• A new publication released during 7th OIFC Market Place by the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India. The publication gives an insight into various schemes and measures activities that the Government has developed keeping in mind aspects that would be useful for Overseas Indians.
• Approximately 700 business meetings conducted through OIFC Market Place forums, in India and overseas.
• Projection of 400 plus PPP projects of State Partners in various sectors such as infrastructure, agriculture, energy and more.

2007

• MoU signed between the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs and Confederation of Indian Industry on PPP mode, to set up a trust to facilitate Overseas Indians
• Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre, a not-for-profit trust, launched by Shri Vayalar Ravi, Hon'ble Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs.
• Conducted a study on attracting FDI from the Indian Diaspora.
• Partnered with Knowledge Experts in legal, market entry, real estate and taxation segment to answer the queries of Overseas Indians.

2008

• Launch of 1st OIFC Market Place Forum, a networking platform during Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. First one held at New Delhi.
• 1st international OIFC Market Place Forum held in Singapore.
• 1st OIFC Diaspora Engagement Meet held in Muscat, Oman.

2009

• 3rd Market Place Forum held at Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
• Diaspora Engagement Meets held in the USA (Houston, New York and San Francisco).
• Framed business models to strengthen linkages with State Governments in India, Knowledge Experts, prominent Indian Diaspora Associations and NRI Media.
• Governments of Karnataka and Kerala join as life time Partner States.
• Compiled a report 'Remittances from Indian Diaspora'.
• Conducted a study for promoting investments from the Indian Diaspora.

2010

• Online Business Networking Portal launched by the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India.
• Started 'Ask the Expert', an online facility to facilitate prompt query addresal.
• Launched free monthly e-Newsletter 'India Connect' to provide relevant and timely information, on topics of relevance to the Overseas Indian investors.
• Visit of International delegations from Georgia, Ireland, Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan, the UK and Vietnam to study OIFC model.
• 4th Market Place Forum held in New Delhi.
• Diaspora Engagement Meets held in South Africa (Durban), the UAE (Abu Dhabi and Dubai), the UK (Birmingham and London) and the USA (New York and Washington DC).
• Governments of Gujarat, Odisha and Punjab join as life-time Partner States.
• Durban Investment Promotions Agency (DIPA), Leicestershire Asian Business Association (LABA) and Indian Business & Professional Council (IBPC) became MoU Partners.

2011

• 5th Market Place Forum held in New Delhi
• Diaspora Engagement Meets held at Canada (Toronto), The Netherlands (The Hague) and Trinidad & Tobago (Port of Spain).
• OIFC online portal became a mobile friendly networking site.
• Governments of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Rajasthan join as life time Partner States.
• State Partners initiated into query addresal process (online and offline)
• Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO International) and Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) became MoU Partners.
• Commissioned a study on Indian Diaspora in Singapore, UAE and USA to understand the expectations and concerns of Overseas Indians in their economic engagement with India.

2012

• 6th Market Place Forum held in Jaipur, Rajasthan.
• Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Reunion Island became MoU Partner.
• Government of Haryana joins as a life time Partner State.
• Diaspora Engagement Meet held in Kenya, East Africa.

2013

• 7th OIFC Market Place Forum held in Kochi, Kerala.

• Vietnam- Delegation from Ministry of Industry & Trade
• Georgia – Visit by State Minister of Georgia on Diaspora Issues
• Kazakhstan
• Jamaica