Lok Sabha Question No. 2315 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-15
Subject: Shell Companies in West Bengal
Ministry: CORPORATE AFFAIRS
Asked by: Shri Jagannath Sarkar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2315 ANSWERED ON Monday, December 15, 2025 Agrahayana 24, 1947 (Saka)

Shell Companies in West Bengal

2315. Shri Jagannath Sarkar:

Will the Minister of CORPORATE AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of shell companies identified, struck off, prosecuted or  placed  under  enhanced  surveillance  in  West  Bengal  during  the last  three  years,  along  with  details  of  their  registered  addresses, directors and nature of violations;
- (b) whether the Government has detected clusters of shell entities operating from identical or high-risk premises in Kolkata, Howrah, Siliguri  and  Asansol,  including  those  used  for  hawala,  benami transactions, GST fraud or bogus share-capital inflations, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether a real-time data-verification system is being strengthened to detect fake directors, forged KYC submissions and mass DIN misuse originating from the said State, if so, the details thereof; and
- (d)  the extent of coordination with ED, SFIO, Income Tax and GST authorities  in  cases  where  shell  companies  registered  in  West Bengal  have  been  linked  to  money  laundering,  political  funding irregularities or organised financial fraud?

## ANSWER

Minister  of  State  in  the  Ministry  of  Corporate  Affairs;  Minister  of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

(Shri Harsh Malhotra)

- (a) and (b): The term 'Shell Companies' has not been defined in the Companies  Act,  2013.  However,  from  time  to  time,  this  Ministry carries out Strike-Off drive under Section 248 (1) of the Companies Act, 2013 for striking off such companies which are not carrying on any business or operations for a period of two  immediately preceding financial years and has not made any application within such  period  for  obtaining  the  status  of  a  dormant  company  under

Section 455 of the Act or the subscribers to the memorandum have not paid the subscription which they had undertaken to pay at the time of incorporation of a company and a declaration to this effect has  not  been  filed  within  one  hundred  and  eighty  days  of  its incorporation under sub-section (1) of section 10A of the Act.

Accordingly,  the  number  of  Companies  Struck-off  under  248(1)  of the  Companies  Act,  2013  during  the  last  3  years  and  the  current year in the state of West Bengal is as under: -

| Financial Year          |   Number of Companies Struck-off under Section 248(1) |
|-------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|
| 2022-23                 |                                                  2769 |
| 2023-24                 |                                                     0 |
| 2024-25                 |                                                     0 |
| 2025-26 (till November) |                                                     0 |
| Total                   |                                                  2769 |

(c):  The  necessary  validations  and  real  time  data  verification system is in place to detect fake or duplicate Director Identification Numbers (DIN).

(d): Details of Companies observed to be indulging in suspicious/potentially fraudulent transactions are shared by Financial  Intelligence  Unit  (FIU)  reports,  CEIB  (Central  Economic Intelligence  Bureau)  references,  SLCC  (State  Level  Co-ordination Committee) with  the  Ministry  which  serves  as  important  inputs  in taking  up  Inquiry/Inspection/Investigation  under  Sections  206(4), 206(5) and 210 of the Companies Act, 2013 respectively.

Further, in the matter of serious fraud, investigation is assigned to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) under Section 212 of the Companies Act, 2013.

The findings of the Inquiry/Inspection/Investigation reports are also shared  with  enforcement  agencies  like  Enforcement  Directorate (ED), Income Tax (IT) Department, and GST Authorities as the case may be, to enable further course of action against such companies and individuals associated with such companies.

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