Major Initiatives & Achievements of Ministry of Corporate Affairs
Following are the major initiatives and achievements of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in the last one year.

– Furthering ease of doing business – Companies Act, 2013:

o   16 amendments in the Companies Act, 2013 approved by the Parliament – these amendments are aimed at facilitating business and addressing concerns raised by stakeholders.  Read- 16 Key Changes vide Companies (Amendment) Act, 2015

o   A new integrated e-Form INC-29 has been made available w.e.f 1st May, 2015 for companies.  The Form does away with filing multiple applications/forms saving time and payable fees.  Read – Key Features of e-form INC-29

o   24 amendments in Rules under the Companies Act, 2013, 8 Removal of Difficulty Orders as well as many clarifications were also issued.

o   Certain prescribed forms were discontinued or merged with existing forms. Other Forms were also simplified.

– Setting up of a Committee to look into further modifications required in the Companies Act, 2013.

o   A broad based Committee consisting of representatives of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India or some industry chambers and from the Ministry is being constituted to look into requirement for further changes in the Companies Act, 2013.

– Notification of Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS):

o   Consequent to announcement in the budget of Financial Year 2014-15 (para 128), accounting standards converged with global standards, namely, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) were framed in consultation with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and National Advisory Committee on Accounting Standards.  These thirty nine standards, called Indian Accounting standards (Ind AS) have been notified on 16.02.2015 as Companies (Indian Accounting Standards) Rules, 2015.  These accounting standards are significantly congruent with the global standards, with minimum carve-outs and are expected to boost investor confidence.

–  Constitution of NCLT and NCLAT

o   The Constitution Bench delivered its final order on the long standing litigation. The constitution of the NCLT is being taken up in an expeditious manner.