The term “Shell Companies” is not defined in the Companies Act, and it usually refers to a company without an active business operation or significant assets, which in some cases are used for illegal purposes such as tax evasion, money laundering, obscuring ownership, Benami properties, and so forth. Shri Rao Inderjit Singh, Union Minister of State for Corporate Affairs, made this statement in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha earlier today.

The Minister went on to say that the Government’s Special Task Force on “Shell Companies” advocated, among other things, the adoption of red-flag indications as alerts to identify Shell Companies.

According to the Minister, the Government has been conducting a Special Drive to identify and delist Shell Companies over the past three years.

The Minister laid forth a list of all the businesses that have been deregistered under section 248 in each state and union territory, as follows: