Guide
Starting a company in India
Choosing a structure, the incorporation sequence form by form, and what has to happen in the first weeks after the certificate arrives. General information about a public process — not advice on your incorporation.
Choosing a structure
The decision that is expensive to reverse. Everything after it is process.
Private Limited Company
Founders who want limited liability, share capital they can issue to co-founders or investors, and an option pool. The default for anything expecting outside equity.
- Members
- 2 minimum, 200 maximum
- Directors or partners
- 2 minimum, at least one resident in India
The trade-off. The most capable structure and the most demanding: board meetings, statutory registers, an annual audit and annual filings whether or not the company traded.
Companies Act, 2013, sections 3(1)(b) and 149
One Person Company
A single founder who wants a company rather than a proprietorship, with liability limited to what they put in.
- Members
- 1, and a nominated successor must be named
- Directors or partners
- 1 minimum
The trade-off. Only a natural person who is an Indian citizen may be the member or the nominee, and a person may hold only one OPC. It cannot raise equity from anyone else without converting first.
Companies Act, 2013, section 3(1)(c); Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014, rule 3
Limited Liability Partnership
Professional practices and businesses where the partners run the business themselves and do not intend to issue shares.
- Members
- 2 partners minimum, no maximum
- Directors or partners
- 2 designated partners, at least one resident in India
The trade-off. Lighter ongoing compliance than a company and no share capital — which is also why institutional investors generally will not fund one.
LLP Act, 2008, sections 6 and 7
Public Limited Company
Businesses intending to raise capital from the public, or that have outgrown the private company limits.
- Members
- 7 minimum, no maximum
- Directors or partners
- 3 minimum, at least one resident in India
The trade-off. The heaviest governance and disclosure burden of any structure here. Chosen because it is required, rarely because it is convenient.
Companies Act, 2013, sections 3(1)(a) and 149
Partnership Firm
A simple joint business between people who accept unlimited liability in exchange for very little formality.
- Members
- 2 minimum, 50 maximum
- Directors or partners
- Not applicable — partners manage directly
The trade-off. Partners are personally liable without limit. Registration is optional, but an unregistered firm cannot sue to enforce a contract against a third party.
Indian Partnership Act, 1932, sections 4 and 69; Companies Act, 2013, section 464 for the partner cap
The incorporation sequence
Most of this is one linked application. The forms are named because that is what you will be asked for.
Get a digital signature for every subscriber and director
Every person signing the incorporation forms needs a Class 3 digital signature certificate. This is usually the longest lead item, so start it first.
DSC, from a licensed certifying authority
Reserve the name
Submit the proposed name for approval. If you file name reservation on its own you may propose two names and one is approved; if you file the whole application in one go, only one name can be entered. An approved name is reserved for 20 days and can be extended on payment before it lapses.
SPICe+ Part A
File the incorporation application
The main application: registered office, capital, subscribers, directors, and the director identification numbers. Up to three DINs can be applied for inside this form, so first-time directors do not need one beforehand.
SPICe+ Part B (INC-32)
Attach the constitution documents
The memorandum and articles are filed electronically where there are seven or fewer subscribers. Beyond seven, or where a foreign non-individual subscriber is involved, they are attached as signed PDFs instead. Section 8 companies use a different pair of forms.
INC-33 (eMoA) and INC-34 (eAoA); INC-13 and INC-31 for section 8
File the linked registrations in the same application
One form covers PAN, TAN, EPFO, ESIC and the company bank account, and optionally GST. Professional tax registration through this route applies only to Maharashtra, Karnataka and West Bengal — it is not applicable to a Delhi incorporation.
AGILE-PRO-S (INC-35)
Upload the signed forms and pay
The digitally signed document must be uploaded within 15 days of the application number being generated, and payment completed within 7 days of that upload. Miss either and the application is cancelled and has to be started again.
MCA V3 portal
Receive the Certificate of Incorporation
The registrar issues the certificate with the company identification number. PAN and TAN are allotted alongside it. The company legally exists from this date.
INC-11
After the certificate
The part that gets forgotten, because incorporation feels like the finish line.
Open the bank account and bring in the subscription money
Each subscriber pays in the amount they agreed to in the memorandum. Nothing else on this list can be completed honestly until they have.
Company current account
File the declaration of commencement of business
A declaration that every subscriber has paid for their shares. The company may not begin business or borrow until it is filed.
INC-20A
Appoint the first auditor
The board appoints the first statutory auditor, who holds office until the first annual general meeting.
Board resolution, and ADT-1 where applicable · confirm current requirement
Open the statutory registers
Registers of members, directors and charges, maintained from incorporation rather than reconstructed at year end.
Companies Act, 2013, section 88
Your first financial year
A company's first financial year ends on the 31 March next following incorporation. Only where it is incorporated between 1 January and 31 March does the first financial year run to 31 March of the year after that — a first period of up to fifteen months.
- Incorporated September 2026: first financial year ends 31 March 2027.
- Incorporated February 2027: first financial year ends 31 March 2028.
Companies Act, 2013, section 2(41)
If you are incorporating in Delhi
Delhi incorporations no longer go to a single registrar. From 16 February 2026 the office was split into ROC Delhi I and ROC Delhi II by district and PIN code, and companies registered in Haryana moved to ROC Haryana. Confirm which office applies before filing.
What this page does not tell you
No government fee or stamp duty figures. They vary by state and by authorised capital, and a wrong number is worse than none — check the fee calculator on the MCA portal against your actual particulars.
Nor does it decide anything for you. Which structure suits your situation depends on who is investing, what you are building and what you intend to do with it, and that is a conversation rather than a table.
Checked against mca.gov.in on 27 July 2026. Procedure and forms change; confirm on the live portal before filing.
Talk it through with the practice