Agri-Tech and Forestry is one of the eight priority industries published for the Gelephu Mindfulness City, and it is the pillar with the most immediate export logic: controlled environment agriculture, high-value processing, certified timber and non-timber forest products, and carbon and biodiversity projects, with the Indian market across the border at Gelephu. Sector fit matters from the first filing, because the first stage of company registration through the Gelephu Corporate Registration Office assesses the business case and its alignment with the priority industries before incorporation proceeds. An agribusiness in GMC is formed under the Companies Act 2025 with at least one director ordinarily resident in GMC and a registered office in the city, pays company tax at 15% under the Income Tax Act 2025, and may apply for approval as a founders company, which exempts qualifying income for up to fifteen years where the industry is not yet carried on in GMC at adequate scale; no such approval can be granted after 31 December 2030. Land is not bought freehold: sites come through the Economic Development Group on long-term leases. The Customs Act 2025 allows duty drawback on imported inputs used in goods exported within twelve months, and foreign staff need a work pass under the Employment of Foreign Workforce Act 2025. The sector is governed by this general company, tax, land, customs and employment framework.
Basnet Law Pte. Ltd. advises agribusiness investors on the expression of interest and incorporation through GCRO, site identification and lease negotiation with EDG, founders company and other incentive applications, customs licensing and drawback, supply, offtake and export contracts under the Sale of Goods Act 2026, work passes for foreign staff, and disputes. We help clients use the approval-based reliefs while they remain open and build enforceable commercial arrangements across the value chain.
