Registering a company in India is now a single online workflow — one web form on one portal that delivers incorporation, PAN, TAN and more in one pass. With documents in order, a private limited company is real in 7 to 15 working days. Here is the whole process, what it costs, and where timelines actually slip — whether your shareholders sit in Hyderabad or Hamburg.
Before you start: two decisions
First, the structure. This guide covers the private limited company — the default for anyone who plans to raise investment or take FDI. If you are weighing alternatives, see our comparisons of private limited vs LLP vs proprietorship for domestic founders, and subsidiary vs branch vs liaison office for foreign companies.
Second, the people. A private limited company needs at least two shareholders and two directors (they can overlap), and — the requirement foreign founders most often discover late — at least one director resident in India for 182 days or more in the financial year, under section 149(3) of the Companies Act. Settle who fills that seat before anything is filed.
The process, step by step
Everything runs through the SPICe+ (Simplified Proforma for Incorporating Company Electronically Plus) web form on the MCA's V3 portal.
1. Digital signature certificates (DSC)
Every subscriber to the memorandum needs a DSC to sign the forms electronically. These are issued by licensed certifying authorities, typically at ₹1,500–3,000 per person at market rates, against identity documents. For foreign subscribers, this is the first place apostilled paperwork is needed — start early.
2. Name reservation — SPICe+ Part A
Part A reserves the company name. (A standalone name reservation carries a ₹1,000 fee; you can also file Part A and Part B together.) Practical advice on names: search the MCA register and the trademark register before proposing. Names too close to an existing company or mark are the most common first rejection — and each resubmission costs days.
3. Incorporation — SPICe+ Part B and linked forms
Part B is the substantive application: registered office, capital, directors and subscribers. Filed with it are:
- eMoA and eAoA — the electronic memorandum and articles of association;
- AGILE-PRO-S — one linked form covering GSTIN (optional at this stage), EPFO, ESIC, professional tax where applicable, and the company bank account;
- DIN allotment for up to three directors who do not already hold a Director Identification Number.
One filing, several registrations. This consolidation is why incorporation that once took months now takes days.
4. The certificate of incorporation
On approval, the Registrar of Companies issues the certificate of incorporation bearing the company's CIN — with PAN and TAN issued alongside. The company exists from this date.
5. Make it operational
The certificate is the start, not the finish. Activate the bank account opened through AGILE-PRO-S, have subscribers deposit the share-subscription money, complete GST registration if not taken at incorporation, and put the statutory registers and first board actions in place. Where the shareholder is foreign, one deadline towers over the rest: Form FC-GPR must be filed with the RBI within 30 days of allotting shares, through the FIRMS portal — and thereafter the annual FLA return each 15 July.
Documents you will need
- For each director and subscriber: PAN (for Indian residents), passport (mandatory for foreign nationals), proof of identity and current address;
- For the registered office: proof of address (utility bill or similar) and the owner's no-objection consent;
- For a corporate shareholder: charter documents and a board resolution authorising the investment and the signatory;
- For foreign documents: notarisation and apostille (or consularisation, depending on the country) — the single biggest cause of timeline slippage in foreign-owned incorporations.
Domestic vs foreign-owned: what actually differs
The SPICe+ workflow is identical whoever the shareholders are. The differences sit around it:
| Domestic founders | Foreign shareholders / directors | |
|---|---|---|
| Identity documents | PAN, Aadhaar-linked proofs | Passport, notarised and apostilled |
| Board | Resident-director rule usually met automatically | One s.149(3) resident director must be planned for |
| Funding the company | Subscription money deposited, no RBI filing | FC-GPR to the RBI within 30 days of allotment; pricing guidelines apply |
| Annual extras | Standard ROC and tax calendar | Plus the FLA return to the RBI by 15 July each year |
None of these are obstacles. They are simply extra workstreams that must start earlier — especially the apostille round and the resident-director decision.
Why applications bounce — and how to avoid resubmission
Most incorporation delays are self-inflicted and avoidable:
- Name conflicts. Proposed names too close to an existing company or registered trademark are the most common rejection. Search both registers before filing, and have a genuinely distinct fallback.
- Address-proof mismatches. Utility bills that are stale, or in a name that does not match the NOC, trigger resubmission. Check the documents agree with each other, line by line.
- Apostille defects. A foreign document notarised but not apostilled — or apostilled for the wrong signatory — fails at review. Confirm the exact chain required for the country in question before papers are couriered.
- Inconsistent personal details. A director whose name is spelt differently across passport, DSC and the form will stall the filing. Fix the source documents first.
Each resubmission costs days and, repeated, can cost the name reservation itself. The cheapest acceleration available is a complete, internally consistent first filing.
Realistic cost and timeline
Timeline: 7 to 15 working days end to end once documents are complete. Add front-end time for DSCs and, for foreign parties, the apostille round — which can take longer than the incorporation itself.
Cost: the government incorporation fee is nil for authorised capital up to ₹15 lakh; stamp duty is extra and varies by state. DSCs run roughly ₹1,500–3,000 each, and a standalone name reservation costs ₹1,000. Professional fees depend on the mandate's complexity — a domestic two-founder company and a foreign-owned subsidiary with apostilled documents are different exercises. Confirm current figures before budgeting; fee schedules change.
| Stage | Typical duration |
|---|---|
| DSCs & document preparation | 2–5 working days (longer with apostille) |
| Name approval (Part A) | 1–2 working days |
| SPICe+ Part B to certificate | Balance of the 7–15 working days |
| Bank activation & funding | 1–3 weeks after incorporation |
After incorporation: the first-year rhythm
A private limited company carries a standing compliance calendar from day one. The recurring items:
- Corporate housekeeping — board meetings at the prescribed intervals, minutes, statutory registers, and the annual ROC filings;
- Audit — every company, regardless of size, has its accounts audited annually;
- Tax — income-tax filings (from 1 April 2026 governed by the Income-tax Act, 2025, which replaces the 1961 Act), TDS compliance once payments begin, and GST returns if registered;
- FEMA, where ownership is foreign — the FLA return each 15 July, and event-based filings on any further allotments or share transfers.
None of it is onerous when set up as a routine in month one; most of it is painful when reconstructed in month eleven. Build the calendar the week the certificate arrives, assign an owner for each item, and the company's compliance record stays clean from the start — which is exactly what a future investor's due diligence will look for.
The short version
One form (SPICe+ on MCA V3), 7–15 working days, government fee nil up to ₹15 lakh authorised capital plus state stamp duty. Two shareholders, two directors, one of them India-resident. Foreign-funded? The 30-day FC-GPR clock starts at allotment. See advisory & corporate law services for the nature of services.
Incorporation itself rarely delays anyone any more. What delays people is what comes before it — names that clash, documents without apostille, and no resident director lined up.
If you are planning an incorporation — domestic or foreign-owned — and want the sequence mapped to your facts, you can reach the firm here.
Frequently asked questions
With documents in order, expect 7 to 15 working days end to end on the MCA V3 portal. Foreign shareholders or directors add time at the start, because their documents must be notarised and apostilled before filing.
Government incorporation fees are nil for authorised capital up to ₹15 lakh, but stamp duty varies by state, digital signature certificates cost roughly ₹1,500 to ₹3,000 per person at market rates, and professional fees vary by mandate. Treat the total as a modest, mostly fixed setup cost — and confirm current figures before budgeting.
A private limited company needs a minimum of two shareholders and two directors. A single founder can instead incorporate a One Person Company, or hold the second share through a nominee arrangement designed with advice.
Yes. The same SPICe+ process applies whether shareholders are Indian or foreign. The differences are around it: foreign documents need notarisation and apostille, at least one director must be resident in India under section 149(3), and the share allotment to the foreign investor must be reported to the RBI on Form FC-GPR within 30 days.
PAN and TAN are issued along with the certificate of incorporation. GST registration can be applied for within the same workflow through AGILE-PRO-S, or separately later once the company is operational.