To incorporate a Public limited company in India, you are required to have minimum seven shareholders or members and three Directors. There is no cap on the maximum number of members.

A public limited company can be incorporated with MCA or Ministry of Corporate Affairs in 15-20 working days subject to the processing time taken by the registrar of companies. It enjoys certain additional benefits which private limited company don’t.

A Public Limited Company is a Company limited by shares in which there is no restrictions on the maximum number of shareholders. It can offer its shares or debentures to Public, can make or accept deposits from Public and there are no restrictions on the transfer of shares. The liability of each shareholder is limited to the extent of the amount of shares subscribed. However, the liability of a Director / Manager of such a Company can at times be unlimited.

Steps to Incorporate/ Register a Public Limited Comapny:-

1. Finalizing a Business Name.

• 6 names of the company should be proposed in Preferential order alongwith suitable justification for the proposed names. This must be followed by the word "Limited"


• The proposed names should not be identical or very similar to any existing company name.


• Few words are restricted to be part of the name e.g. "India", "National", "Institute" etc. are allowed in certain circumstances and may also carry higher minimum capital requirement.


• Confirmation about availability of a specific business name should be obtained before proceeding ahead with other steps.
  
• Check our comprehensive guide on How to Name my company.

2. Registered Office Address.

• All communication from Regulatory authorities are done at this address


• This can be different from the actual place where the business is conducted


• The ownership/ rental agreement should be in favour of proposed company or proposed directors/ shareholders


• This will govern the selection of State, whose RoC will be used for registering/ incorporating the proposed company
  

3. Executing Power of Attorney.

Power of Attorney should be executed by All Directors authorizing a person (can be a Director, or any other person) to carry out any changes in the documents, if required, and also to submit all the documents to the RoC and collect the Certificate of Incorporation

4. Register with all other regulatory authorities and obtain necessary permissions.

• Income Tax Department - PAN (Permanent Account Number) and TAN (Tax Deductor Account Number)
• Sales Tax/ VAT registration, if applicable
• Service Tax, if applicable
• Provident Fund, if applicable
• ESIC (Employee State Insurance Corporation)
• STPI/ SEZ registration and custom bonding, if applicable