A company whose securities are traded on a stock exchange and can be bought and sold by anyone.

Public companies are strictly regulated, and are required by law to publish their complete and true financial position so that investors can determine the true worth of its stock (shares). Also called publicly held company. Public limited company and its abbreviation Plc are commonly used in the UK in the way that corporation and Inc. is used in the United States. Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/public-limitedcompany.html#ixzz2KEBE5FZe Public Limited Company http://business.gov.in/starting_business/org_public_ltd.php A public limited company is a voluntary association of members which is incorporated and, therefore has a separate legal existence and the liability of whose members is limited. Its main features are :

The company has a separate legal existence apart from its members who compose it. Its formation, working and its winding up, in fact, all its activities are strictly governed by laws, rules and regulations. The Indian Companies Act, 1956 contains the provisions regarding the legal formalities for setting up of a public limited company. Registrars of Companies (ROC) appointed under the Companies Act covering the various States and Union Territories are vested with the primary duty of registering companies floated in the respective states and the Union Territories. A company must have a minimum of seven members but there is no limit as regards the maximum number. The company collects its capital by the sale of its shares and those who buy the shares are called the members. The amount so collected is called the share capital. The shares of a company are freely transferable and that too without the prior consent of other shareholders or without subsequent notice to the company. The liability of a member of a company is limited to the face value of the shares he owns. Once he has paid the whole of the face value, he has no obligation to contribute anything to pay off the creditors of the company. The shareholders of a company do not have the right to participate in the day-to-day management of the business of a company. This ensures separation of ownership from management. The power of decision making in a company is vested in the Board of Directors, and all policy decisions are taken at the Board level by the majority rule. This ensures a unity of direction in management. As a company is an independent legal person, its existence is not affected by the death, retirement or insolvency of any of its shareholders.

Advantages

Continuity of existence Larger amount of capital Unity of direction Efficient management Limited liability

Disadvantages

Scope for promotional frauds Undemocratic control Scope for directors for personal profit Subjected to strict regulations

Public Companies

Air India Limited (A. I. L.) Airports Authority of India (A. A. I.) Limited Akaltara Power Limited Andaman and Nicobar Islands Forest and Plantation Development Corporation Balmer Lawrie and Company Limited Bank of India (B. O. I) Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Limited (B. C. P. L.) Bharat Coking Coal Limited (B. C. C. L.) Bharat Dynamics Limited (B. D. L.) Bharat Electronics Limited (B. E. L.) Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (B. H. E. L) Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (B. P. C. L.) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (B. S. N. L.) Coal India Limited (C. I. L.) Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (E. L. C. O. T.) Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (H. A. L.) Indian Institutes of Technology (I. I. T.) Indian Oil Corporation Limited Life Insurance Corporation of India (L. I. C.) Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (M. T. N. L.) Mazagon Dock Limited (M. D. L.) Modern Food Industries (India) Limited (M. F. I. L.) National Institutes of Technology (N. I. T.) N. T. P. C. Limited (Earlier National Thermal Power Corporation) Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (N. P. C. I. L.) Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (O. N. G. C.) Power Grid Corporation of India Limited State Bank of India (S. B. I.) Steel Authority of India Limited (S. A. I. L.)

Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (T. N. E. B.) Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (T. N. S. T. C.) The Jute Corporation of India Limited

Private Limited Company A private limited company is a voluntary association of not less than two and not more than fifty members, whose liability is limited, the transfer of whose shares is limited to its members and who is not allowed to invite the general public to subscribe to its shares or debentures. Its main features are :

It has an independent legal existence. The Indian Companies Act,1956 contains the provisions regarding the legal formalities for setting up of a private limited company. Registrars of Companies (ROC) appointed under the Companies Act covering the various States and Union Territories are vested with the primary duty of registering companies floated in the respective states and the Union Territories. It is relatively less cumbersome to organise and operate it as it has been exempted from many regulations and restrictions to which a public limited company is subjected to. Some of them are :it need not file a prospectus with the Registrar. it need not obtain the Certificate for Commencement of business. it need not hold the statutory general meeting nor need it file the statutory report. restrictions placed on the directors of the public limited company do not apply to its directors. The liability of its members is limited. The shares allotted to it's members are also not freely transferable between them. These companies are not allowed to invite public to subscribe to its shares and debentures. It enjoys continuity of existence i.e. it continues to exist even if all its members die or desert it. Hence, a private company is preferred by those who wish to take the advantage of limited liability but at the same time desire to keep control over the business within a limited circle and maintain the privacy of their business.

Advantages

Continuity of existence Limited liability Less legal restrictions

Disadvantages

Shares are not freely transferable Not allowed to invite public to subscribe to its shares

Scope for promotional frauds Undemocratic control

Private companies

Reliance Industries Limited Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Infosys Technologies Ltd Wipro Limited Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited ITC Limited Hindustan Lever Limited ICICI Bank Limited Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd. TATA Steel Limited Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited HDFC Bank Ltd Tata Motors Limited Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) Satyam Computer Services Ltd. Maruti Udyog Limited Bajaj Auto Ltd. HCL Technologies Ltd. Hero Honda Motors Limited Hindalco Industries Ltd