Employment Visa vs Business Visa in India: Which One Do You Actually Need
A Business Visa covers meetings, exploratory trips, and short-term technical visits, an Employment Visa is required the moment someone is actually working for or being paid by an Indian entity.
A Business Visa is appropriate for exploratory market visits, attending meetings, negotiating contracts, or short technical visits (installation, training) that don't constitute taking up employment. It's faster to obtain and has fewer documentation requirements than an Employment Visa, but it comes with real limits on duration of continuous stay and, critically, doesn't permit drawing a salary from an Indian entity or performing ongoing operational work.
The line between "business activity" and "employment" is where companies most often get this wrong, someone repeatedly extending business visa trips to effectively run India operations, rather than transitioning to a proper Employment Visa once the role becomes ongoing, creates real immigration compliance risk, both for the individual and the company.
The practical rule of thumb: if the person is being paid by, or performing ongoing operational work for, an Indian entity, an Employment Visa is required, a Business Visa used to paper over what is functionally employment is a compliance gap that tends to surface exactly when it's most inconvenient, during an FRRO registration check or an audit.