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7/21/2014 Mrunal Explained: Types of companies Public,Private,Holding,PSU

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[Economy] Different Types of Companies: Pvt.Ltd, Public Ltd., Public
Corporation, Departmental Undertaking, PSUs
1. Paid up Capital
2. Private company
3. Public company
4. Holding company and subsidiary company
5. Departmental undertakings
6. Government Company
7. Public corporation
8. PSU (Public Sector undertakings)
Paid up Capital
This word is going to keep reappearing in next few articles, so better understand
it in advance.
You already saw that there are two ways to finance a company: Debt + Equity.
Paid up Capital means the amount of money contributed via Equity
(shareholders)
Private company
It has a minimum paid-up capital of Rs.1 lakh
It needs minimum two members and maximum 200 members (i.e. The persons
who hold its equity)
This company is to use the word Private Limited at the end of its name.
It cannot have more than 50 members
It cannot borrow for general public.
For example Balaji Telefilms private ltd= Ektaa Kapoors company, involved in
making those boring Saas Bahu serials.
Another example: Neela telefilms private ltd. = Asit Modis company, they
produce the comedy serial Tarak Mehta Kaa oolta Chashmaa.
Flipkart.com : the online shopping website is also a private company, started by
Sachin and Binni Bansal.
Public company
It has minimum paid-up capital of Rs.5 lakh.
Requires minimum seven members to start a public company.
7/21/2014 Mrunal Explained: Types of companies Public,Private,Holding,PSU
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It has to hold annual general meeting of shareholders.
It can borrow from general public via IPOs and Bonds.
For example, Infosys started as a private ltd company in 1981, but in 1992, it re-
registered itself as a Public Ltd company and launched the IPO in 1993.
Holding company and subsidiary company
If company A holds more than 50% Shares of company B then,
Company A is a holding company
Company B is a subsidiary company
Example: Coal India is a holding company. Bharat Coking ltd, Mahanadi
CoalFields ltd are its subsidiary companies.
Similarly, Konkan Railway is a subsidiary company of Indian Railways. Although
Indian Railways is not a Holding Company, it is a Departmental undertaking.
Departmental undertakings
They are involved in some commercial activity such as engineering,
manufacturing etc. But
Theyre directly controlled by the government, just like any other department
For example: Indian Railways, postal Department.
They are not registered as companies under the companies act
They are wholly financed by the government (and not through Debt+Equity like a
normal company)
They cannot use their profit to meet their expenditure, or to expand their
business activities without the permission of Government (by extension
parliament. I.e. Railway budget for Railways and General Union budget in case of
postal Department)
Their employees are government servants.
Directly audited by CAG.
RTI applies to Departmental undertakings.
Government Company
It is a company in which government holds not less than 51% of paid-up share
capital.
For example, ONGC, SAIL
Here, The Government means the union government or the State
government(s) on both.
For example, in Company A, 30% shares are held by union government, 10% by
Gujarat government, 11% by Madhya Pradesh government, still Company A is a
Government company (30+10+11=51%)
The government company is managed by the board of directors.
Board of Directors are appointed by the shareholders. But since government
owns majority of the shares, majority of directors are chosen by the government.
They can borrow extra money from public via IPOs and bonds.
7/21/2014 Mrunal Explained: Types of companies Public,Private,Holding,PSU
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This company does not need Parliaments approval on how to use the profit, But
it will need approval of Board of directors on how to spend the profit.
Theyre not directly audited by CAG, but CAG appoints the private firms
(Chartered accountants) as auditors.
RTI applies to Government companies.
Public corporation
They are established by a special act of Parliament or state legislature (Vidhan
Sabha)
The act defines how this organization will run. For example: LIC, Air India,
IDBI, UTI
They are wholly financed by the government, but still they can also borrow from
general public via Bonds and shares.
Government appoints board of directors.
They can use their profit as per their requirements without Parliaments approval
Employees of public corporation are not government servants.
Directly audited by CAG, although in some cases CAG outsources the work to
private firms.
RTI applies to Public Corporations.
PSU (Public Sector undertakings)
When we use the word PSU: it means Public corporations + Government
companies.
Departmental undertakings (Railway/Postal) are not PSUs.
CAG has two wings:
1. The Civil wing looks after the auditing of Ministries + Departmental
undertakings.
2. The Commercial wing looks after the auditing of Government companies
+Public Corporations.
URL to article: http://mrunal.org/2012/04/economy-different-types-of-
companies.html
Posted By Mrunal On 25/04/2012 @ 14:50 In the category Economy,Economy:
Miscellaneous & Outdated articles

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