Bill on new Company Act by Jun

The government on Saturday said it would present a bill on the revised Companies Act in Parliament before June 2005.

"Sometime before the middle of next year, I will take the Bill to both houses of Parliament," Company Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta said at a seminar in New Delhi.

He said an expert committee, headed by Tata Sons' J J Irani, will be preparing a final paper after studying the suggestions made by various stakeholders on the concept paper, which was released in August.

"The committee, which will be formed by the next week, will have representatives from industry chambers like Confederation of Indian Industries and Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as professional institutes like Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and Institute of Company Secretaries of India," Gupta said, adding they will take about 60-90 days to prepare a final paper.

He said before going to the Cabinet, the final paper would be vetted by the Law Ministry.The government, he said, was committed to simplifying the voluminous Companies Act, 1956, from the current about 781 provisions to less than 300.

"For this we are seeking support from all stakeholders, and to make it more representative and acceptable, we will put on our website all proposed rules for 60 days to elicit comments and suggestions".

Even as his Ministry was taking steps to make business environment simple and hassle-free for the corporate sector, Gupta said steps had also been taken for the protection of small investors.