Company Registration Cost in India - Complete Breakdown 2026

The Three Layers of Cost, Explained

Government Fees: Lower Than Most Founders Expect

The most important fact in any 2026 cost analysis is the incorporation-fee relief. Under the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs charges no government filing fee for incorporating a company whose authorised capital is up to ₹15 lakh. Since the overwhelming majority of new Private Limited Companies and OPCs start with authorised capital of ₹1 lakh to ₹10 lakh, the incorporation fee line on their budget is effectively zero. Fees only begin to apply on the slab above ₹15 lakh, so deliberately inflating authorised capital "to look bigger" is a needless way to manufacture cost.

The incorporation itself runs through SPICe+ (Simplified Proforma for Incorporating Company Electronically Plus), the single integrated web form on the MCA V3 portal at mca.gov.in. SPICe+ bundles what used to be separate, separately-priced services into one application: name reservation in Part A, and in Part B the incorporation, allotment of Director Identification Numbers (DIN), PAN, TAN, GSTIN, EPFO and ESIC registration, and profession-tax enrolment where applicable. Because DIN for the first directors is allotted through SPICe+ at incorporation, the standalone ₹500 per-DIN fee does not apply to a fresh company; you only pay it when adding a director to an existing company later.

Name reservation costs ₹1,000, whether you reserve through SPICe+ Part A or the standalone RUN (Reserve Unique Name) service. You may propose names and, if the first attempt is rejected for similarity or a trademark conflict, a resubmission costs another ₹1,000, so getting the name right the first time is a small but genuine saving. PAN and TAN are issued at nominal statutory charges and are absorbed into the SPICe+ filing, and GST registration through the same flow carries no government fee at all.

Why Two Identical Companies Pay Different Amounts: State Stamp Duty

Stamp duty on the Memorandum of Association (MOA), Articles of Association (AOA) and the incorporation form is the reason an otherwise identical company costs more to register in one state than another. Stamp duty is a state subject, levied under each state's Stamp Act, so the rate, the calculation method and the cap all change the moment you change your registered-office state. This single line item can swing the government portion of your bill by several thousand rupees.

There are broadly three charging models. Some states charge a flat fee that barely registers on a budget, with Himachal Pradesh among the lowest. Others charge a percentage of authorised capital subject to a cap, which is why higher authorised capital pushes the bill up in those states. A third group uses a slab structure. As of 2026, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh are commonly cited among the higher-duty states, while Delhi and several others sit at the lower end. Because exact rates and caps are revised by state finance departments from time to time, confirm the current figure for your specific state and authorised-capital amount before finalising your budget rather than relying on a generic table.

The practical implication: your choice of registered-office state is itself a cost decision. If you have genuine flexibility about where the registered office sits, the stamp-duty differential is worth checking. What you should never do is register in a state where you have no real presence merely to save duty, as the registered office must be a place where the company can actually receive and acknowledge communications.

Professional Fees: What You Are Actually Paying For

Professional fees are where the same company can cost ₹3,000 or ₹15,000 depending entirely on who you hire and what they include. The fee is not for "submitting a form"; it pays for drafting a Memorandum and Articles that match your actual business objects, choosing the correct authorised-capital structure, validating your name against existing companies and registered trademarks on ipindia.gov.in to avoid a rejection, assembling and digitally signing the attachments correctly, and dealing with any resubmission the ROC raises. A poorly prepared SPICe+ that bounces back costs time and, sometimes, a fresh stamp-duty payment.

When comparing quotes, the most important question is what is and is not included. A headline price of ₹5,000 that excludes DSC, excludes stamp duty, and excludes the first year of compliance is not cheaper than a ₹12,000 all-inclusive package; it is simply unbundled. Ask explicitly whether the quote covers DSC for every director, government and stamp-duty charges, PAN and TAN, and any post-incorporation filings. The cleanest comparison is the all-in number to walk away with an active company.

How Company Type Changes the Bill

The cost comparison table on this page shows that a Private Limited Company, an LLP and an OPC sit in broadly similar ranges, but the drivers differ. A Private Limited Company and an OPC are incorporated through SPICe+ and follow the authorised-capital-based fee logic, so they benefit fully from the ₹15 lakh zero-fee relief. An LLP is incorporated through the FiLLiP form, where the government fee is calculated on total capital contribution rather than authorised capital, and an LLP additionally requires a stamped LLP Agreement filed in Form 3, which carries its own state-wise stamp duty on the agreement value.

Where the real cost difference appears is not at incorporation but afterwards. An LLP without significant turnover faces lighter annual compliance than a Private Limited Company, which must hold board meetings, file annual returns and have its accounts audited regardless of turnover. So the cheapest structure to register is not always the cheapest to run. Weigh the first-year and recurring compliance cost, not just the day-one fee, when the structures look similar on paper.

The Costs Nobody Quotes Upfront

How to Budget Realistically

Build your budget from the bottom up using the three layers. Start with the government layer: assume ₹0 incorporation fee if authorised capital is up to ₹15 lakh, add ₹1,000 for name reservation, and add the current stamp duty for your specific state and capital. Add the DSC layer for each director. Then add the professional fee, comparing only all-inclusive quotes. Finally, set aside a separate first-year compliance reserve so post-incorporation filings do not feel like a surprise.

For most early-stage founders incorporating a Private Limited Company or OPC with modest capital in a low-to-mid stamp-duty state, the realistic all-in day-one figure lands in the low-to-mid five figures of rupees once professional help and DSCs are included, with the company-type tables above showing the typical bands. The two biggest swings remain your state's stamp duty and your choice of professional package, so those are where to focus comparison effort.