A Bill to amend the Companies Act, 1956, will be introduced in the Budget Session of Parliament in 2007, company affairs minister Prem Chand Gupta said on Friday. Besides, the Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP) Bill would also be introduced in the Winter Session of Parliament, the minister said at a Ficci conference here.
Gupta said the government was keen to operationalise the Competition Commission of India and had introduced amendments to the Competition Act after taking into consideration the legal challenges and the order of the Supreme Court.

These amendments are presently under the consideration of the standing committee on finance and the officials of the company affairs ministry will meet standing committee members on November 16 to take the process forward, he said.

Anurag Goel, secretary, company affairs ministry, said the government would bring into force by January 2007 new accounting standards for firms in the country.

Gupta said the revised Companies Act would address the changes in the national as well as the international economy, thereby making domestic firms globally more competitive. He said the LLP Bill would enable professional expertise to organise and provide a range of services to the corporate sector in a comprehensive and efficient manner.

In order to help the professionals face global competition with greater strength, they would be allowed to form multi-disciplinary firms, he said.