Companies Act, 1956
Sec 208 - Power
of company to pay interest out of capital in certain cases.
(1) Where any shares in a company are issued
for the purpose of raising money to defray the expenses of the construction of
any work or building, or the provision of any plant, which cannot be made
profitable for a lengthy period, the company may :
(a) pay interest on so much of that share
capital as is for the time being paid up, for the period and subject to the
conditions and restrictions mentioned in sub-sections (2) to (7) ; and
(b) charge the sum so paid by way of interest,
to capital as part of the cost of construction of the work or building, or the
provision of the plant.
(2) No such payment shall be made unless it is
authorized by the articles or by a special resolution.
(3) No such payment, whether authorized by the
articles or by special resolution, shall be made without the previous sanction
of the Central Government.
The grant of such sanction shall be conclusive
evidence, for the purposes of this section, that the shares of the company, in
respect of which such sanction is given, have been issued for a purpose
specified in this section.
(4) Before sanctioning any such payment, the
Central Government may, at the expense of the company, appoint a person to
inquire into, and report to the Central Government on, the circumstances of the
case ; and may, before making the appointment, require the company to give
security for the payment of the costs of the inquiry.
(5) The payment of interest shall be made only
for such period as may be determined by the Central Government ; and that
period shall in no case extend beyond the close of the half-year next after the
half-year during which the work or building has been actually completed or the
plant provided.
(6) The rate of interest shall, in no case,
exceed twelve per cent per annum or such other rate as the Central Government
may, by notification in the Official Gazette, direct.
(7) The payment of the interest shall not
operate as a reduction of the amount paid up on the shares in respect of which
it is paid.
(8) Nothing in this section shall effect any
company to which the Indian Railway Companies Act, 1895 (10 of 1895), or the
Indian Tramways Act, 1902 (4 of 1902) applies.