Eastern India restricted by old regular payment (8)
I believe the answer is:
oriental
'eastern' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'india restricted by old regular payment' is the wordplay.
'india' becomes 'i' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'restricted by' indicates putting letters inside (inserted letters are restricted or trapped).
'old' becomes 'o' (common abbreviation eg in OE for Old English).
'regular payment' becomes 'rental' (rent payments).
'o'+'rental'='orental'
'i' put within 'orental' is 'ORIENTAL'.
(Other definitions for oriental that I've seen before include "Relation? (anagram)" , "Genghis Khan, say" , "could be Chinese" , "Eastern - relation (anag)" , "Eastern {8}" .)