India’s entire register of valuers runs to just 6,278 names. Every preferential allotment, merger scheme and insolvency resolution that Indian company law touches must be valued by one of them — and a valuation signed by anyone else is not merely weaker evidence, it fails the statute outright.
For founders, promoters and CFOs that creates a practical problem. The word “valuer” gets used loosely, the professional you actually need changes depending on which law is driving the transaction, and getting it wrong tends to surface at the worst possible moment: mid-diligence, at an ROC filing, or in an income tax assessment.
What a Registered Valuer Actually Is
A registered valuer is an individual or entity registered with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) under the Companies (Registered Valuers and Valuation) Rules, 2017, framed under Section 247 of the Companies Act, 2013. It is a statutory licence. It is not a title a firm can award itself, and it is not the same thing as having valuation experience.
To hold it, a professional must be enrolled as a valuer member of a Registered Valuer Organisation (RVO) — ICAI RVO, ICMAI RVO, IOV Registered Valuers Foundation or PVAI, among others — complete that RVO’s recognised educational course, pass IBBI’s computer-based valuation examination for the relevant asset class, satisfy the “fit and proper person” test, and be recommended by the RVO for registration.
Each registration carries a number in the format IBBI/RV/xx/20xx/xxxxx, and every report issued must carry a Valuation Report Identification Number (VRIN). Both are publicly verifiable. That matters more than most companies realise: a report from someone who is not on the register cannot support a Companies Act filing at all, however good the underlying analysis is.
Where Indian Law Makes a Registered Valuer Mandatory
Section 247 requires a registered valuer wherever the Companies Act calls for the valuation of shares, other securities, assets, goodwill, net worth or liabilities. The recurring triggers in practice are:
- Preferential allotment under Section 62(1)(c) — pricing shares issued to a new investor or an existing shareholder
- Private placement by an unlisted company under Section 42, where the issue price must be justified by a registered valuer’s report
- Mergers, demergers and schemes of arrangement under Sections 230–232
- Sweat equity shares under Section 54
- Non-cash transactions with directors under Section 192, which need an independent value
- Corporate insolvency — under the IBC, the resolution professional must have fair value and liquidation value determined by registered valuers; the mechanics, including the February 2026 CIRP amendment, are set out in our guide to valuation for IBC
Buy-backs under Section 68 and capital reductions under Section 66 do not always strictly require a valuation for an unlisted company, but NCLT, auditors and minority shareholders routinely expect a registered valuer’s report. If your company has been through any of these, you have already met the framework. Our note on valuation under the Companies Act 2013 covers the filing mechanics in more detail.
Where a Registered Valuer Is Not the Right Professional
This is the part that catches founders out, because a single funding round can require two different reports from two different professionals.
- Income-tax (ESOPs and share FMV): when employees exercise ESOPs over unlisted shares, the fair market value for the perquisite must be determined by a SEBI Category I Merchant Banker, not a registered valuer. Note that Rule 11UA no longer exists: from 1 April 2026 the Income-tax Rules, 2026 apply, and the old book-value formula for unquoted equity shares now sits in Rule 57. The merchant-banker DCF route under old Rule 11UA(2) served only angel tax, which was abolished, and it was not carried forward. Our share valuation guide maps who signs what.
- FEMA / RBI pricing guidelines: the price for issue or transfer of shares to or from a non-resident must be certified by a SEBI-registered Merchant Banker, a Chartered Accountant or a practising Cost Accountant — not by a registered valuer acting in that capacity. Our FEMA valuation guide sets out the pricing rules.
A Series A round with a foreign investor routinely needs a Companies Act valuation from a registered valuer and a FEMA pricing certificate from a CA or merchant banker — on the same shares, in the same week.
Registered Valuer Eligibility: Qualification, Exam and Asset Class
Registration is granted asset class by asset class, and the entry requirements differ for each. There are three.
Securities or Financial Assets — the class covering business valuation, share valuation, ESOP valuation and intangibles. Open to members of ICAI, ICSI or ICMAI, to MBA/PGDBM holders with a finance specialisation, and to post-graduates in finance, in each case with three years of post-qualification experience.
Land and Building — graduates in civil engineering, architecture or town planning with five years’ experience, or post-graduates in those disciplines (or in real estate or land and building valuation) with three years.
Plant and Machinery — graduates in mechanical, electrical, electronics, production, chemical, metallurgical or allied engineering disciplines, with equivalent experience thresholds.
A registered valuer may value assets only in a class for which they hold the qualification, the experience and a pass in that class’s IBBI examination. That is why a manufacturing company in a merger or a CIRP frequently needs three separate valuers working in parallel, and why an intangible asset valuation sits with the Securities or Financial Assets specialist rather than with the plant valuer.
Partnership firms and companies can also be registered as valuer entities, provided their partners or directors are themselves registered valuers and the entity satisfies the independence conditions in the Rules.
What the Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 Would Change
The Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 23 March 2026 and referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee, which has since tabled a report backing it. Clause 73 is the provision to watch: it would designate IBBI as the statutory Valuation Authority under Section 247, replacing the current delegated arrangement.
If enacted as introduced, IBBI would directly register valuers and valuer organisations, prescribe eligibility and continuing-education norms, recommend valuation standards to the Central Government, and run inspections and disciplinary proceedings — backed by suspension of registration for up to ten years, a penalty of up to ₹10 lakh, or both.
Two changes matter more to companies than to valuers. First, appointing a valuer for statutory purposes would move from management discretion to a formal Audit Committee resolution, creating a documented governance trail. Second, a tougher penalty regime tends to produce longer, more heavily evidenced and slower reports — worth building into the timetable for a fast-track merger or a buy-back that already runs on a compressed statutory clock.
The Bill is not yet law. Treat it as a planning input, not a compliance obligation.
How to Check a Registered Valuer Before You Engage One
Three checks take ten minutes and prevent a rejected filing.
Verify the registration. Search the name or registration number on the IBBI public register of registered valuers and confirm the asset class matches the work. A Securities or Financial Assets registration does not cover a factory building.
Ask which law the report is being issued under. A competent adviser tells you upfront whether you need a registered valuer, a merchant banker, or both, and why. If the answer is vague, that is the answer.
Read the report, not just the number. A defensible valuation report states the valuation date, the standard applied (IVS or the ICAI Valuation Standards), the purpose and intended user, the methods considered and rejected, with reasons, the source of every projection, and the VRIN. Reports that produce a number without a reasoned rejection of the methods not used are the ones that come apart in diligence.
Get the Right Valuation, From the Right Professional
Valuation in India is not one profession — it is a set of statutory roles, and engaging the wrong one costs you a filing that has to be redone, usually against a deadline you cannot move.
FinVal Research & Consultancy is a Delhi-based advisory firm led by IBBI Registered Valuers, working with founders, promoters and CFOs on business valuation, ESOP valuation and transaction advisory. Try our free business valuation tool for an instant indicative range, or book a free consultation to work out which report your transaction actually needs.