Guide to starting a Business in India

Formal registration of companies has many immediate benefits for the companies and for business owners and employees. Legal entities can outlive their founders. Resources are pooled as several shareholders join forces to start a company. Formally registered companies have access to services and institutions from courts to banks as well as to new markets. And their employees can benefit from protections provided by the law. An additional benefit comes with limited liability companies. These limit the financial liability of company owners to their investments, so personal assets of the owners are not put at risk. Where governments make registration easy, more entrepreneurs start businesses in the formal sector, creating more good jobs and generating more revenue for the government.

Below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles faced by entrepreneurs wishing to incorporate and register a new firm in India. It examines the procedures, time and cost involved in launching a commercial or industrial firm with up to 50 employees and start-up capital of 10 times the economy's per-capita gross national income.

This information was collected from World Bank: Doing Business 

No.	Procedure	Time to Complete	Associated Costs
1	Obtain director identification number (DIN) on-line	1 day	INR 100
2	Obtain digital signature certificate on-line	1 day	INR 400 to INR 2650
3	Reserve the company name with the Registrar of Companies (ROC) on-line	2 days	INR 1000
4	Pay stamp duties online, file all incorporation forms and documents online and obtain the certificate of incorporation	3-7 days	INR 22,300
5	Make a seal	1 day	INR 350
6	Visit an authorized franchise or agent appointed by National Securities Depository Services Limited (NSDL) or Unit Trust of India (UTI) Investors Services Ltd to obtain a Permanent Account Number (PAN)	7 days	INR 94 for Fee and INR 5 for Application Form, (if not downloaded)
* 7	Obtain a tax account number for income taxes deducted at source from the Assessing Office in the Mumbai Income Tax Department	7 days, simultaneously with Procedure 6	INR 60
* 8	Register with Office of Inspector, Mumbai Shops and Establishment Act	2 days, simultaneous with procedure 7	INR 2,400 (registration fee) + 3 times registration fee for Trade Refuse Charges (INR 7,200)
* 9	Register for VAT online	10 days, simultaneous with procedure 8	INR 500 (Registration Fee) + INR 25 (Stamp Duty) for compulsory VAT registration
* 10	Register for profession tax	2 days, simultaneous with procedure 9	no charge
* 11	Register with Employees' Provident Fund Organization	12 days, simultaneous with procedure 8	no charge
* 12	Register for medical insurance (ESIC)	9 day, simultaneous with procedure 10	no charge

* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.