A Registered Valuer in India is a professional certified by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) under Section 247 of the Companies Act, 2013, and the Companies (Registered Valuers and Valuation) Rules, 2017, to determine the value of assets for statutory purposes. The role exists because Indian corporate and insolvency law will not accept a self-serving valuation from a company or its promoters — certain transactions require an independent, IBBI-licensed opinion before they can proceed. This guide sets out who qualifies as a Registered Valuer, the three asset classes they are licensed in, exactly which properties and assets fall under each class, when the law makes an RV mandatory, and how the role differs from a SEBI Merchant Banker.
1. What Is a Registered Valuer Under Indian Law?
Section 247(1) of the Companies Act, 2013 provides that where a valuation is required in respect of any property, stocks, shares, debentures, securities, goodwill, or any other assets or net worth of a company or its liabilities under the Act, it must be valued by a person registered as a valuer in the prescribed manner. The Central Government delegated this authority to the IBBI with effect from 23 October 2017, making the IBBI the licensing and disciplinary authority for the profession. Further details on the IBBI’s role are available on its official valuation profession page. Since 1 February 2019, only an IBBI Registered Valuer may conduct valuations required under the Companies Act, 2013, and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
Registration is granted asset-class by asset-class, not as a general licence. To qualify, an individual must be a valuer member of a Registered Valuers Organisation (RVO) recognised by the IBBI, complete the prescribed educational course, and pass the IBBI valuation examination for that specific asset class.
2. The Three Asset Classes — and the Types of Property We Value
Rule 2(1)(c) of the Companies (Registered Valuers and Valuation) Rules, 2017 defines an “asset class” as a distinct group of assets displaying similar characteristics that can be classified and valued together. The IBBI currently recognises three asset classes, and a valuer registered in one class cannot certify assets in another. Marcken Consulting’s principal, CA Murli Chandak, holds IBBI registration in the Securities or Financial Assets (SFA) class. The following sets out what each class covers, so a client can identify where their requirement falls.
2.1 Securities or Financial Assets (SFA)
This is the asset class most relevant to corporate transactions and the one in which Marcken Consulting is registered. It covers:
- Equity shares of private and public unlisted companies
- Preference shares, including compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS)
- Compulsorily convertible debentures (CCDs) and other convertible instruments
- Debentures, bonds, and other debt securities
- Mutual fund units and other pooled investment interests
- Business or enterprise value of a company as a going concern
- Goodwill and identifiable intangible assets (brand, customer contracts, technical know-how) where valued as part of a business or share transaction
- ESOP and sweat equity fair value determination under the Companies Act
- Interest in a partnership firm or LLP, where valued for share-swap, restructuring, or conversion purposes
This class is the one engaged for mergers, demergers, preferential allotment, private placement, buy-back, capital reduction, related-party share transfers, and CIRP/liquidation valuation of a corporate debtor’s securities and financial assets.
2.2 Land and Building (L&B)
This class covers immovable property:
- Freehold and leasehold land, agricultural and non-agricultural
- Residential property — flats, bungalows, and residential plots
- Commercial property — offices, retail units, and shopping complexes
- Industrial property — factory sheds, warehouses, and manufacturing premises (the structure only; machinery inside is a separate asset class)
- Development rights, transferable development rights (TDR), and floor space index (FSI)
- Under-construction and completed real estate projects
Where a transaction also requires a Land and Building valuation — for example, immovable property forming part of a Rule 11UA/Rule 57 NAV computation, a CIRP asset register, or a scheme of amalgamation — that valuation is coordinated through a Registered Valuer holding L&B registration within the same engagement.
2.3 Plant and Machinery (P&M)
This class covers movable, tangible business assets:
- Manufacturing machinery and production line equipment
- Heavy equipment, generators, and captive power installations
- Vehicles, forklifts, and material-handling equipment
- Laboratory, testing, and R&D equipment
- IT hardware and specialised technical equipment where valued as a distinct asset block (for example, in an IBC asset register)
- Furniture, fixtures, and office equipment where valued as part of a fixed-asset block
P&M valuation typically arises in impairment testing, CIRP and liquidation asset registers, plant relocation or shutdown scenarios, and merger schemes where a manufacturing undertaking’s tangible fixed assets must be separately valued.
A complex transaction can require more than one asset class in parallel — a CIRP valuation of a manufacturing company, for instance, needs an SFA valuer for the equity and financial assets, an L&B valuer for the factory land and building, and a P&M valuer for the machinery, with one valuer designated as the coordinating valuer for the overall fair value computation.
2.4 Types of Property Marcken Consulting Has Valued
Within its registered asset class (Securities or Financial Assets) and in coordinated engagements involving Land and Building valuation, Marcken Consulting’s engagement history spans:
- Equity shares of unlisted private companies across sectors including manufacturing, technology, fintech, food and agri-processing, real estate, and healthcare, for DCF/FCFE and NAV-based valuations
- Preference shares, including compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS), valued using the discounted dividend method (DDM) for structured returns
- Business and enterprise value in merger, share-swap, and slump-sale transactions, including cross-border share-swap and fund valuations
- ESOP and sweat equity fair value for grant-date accounting (Ind AS 102) and exercise-date support
- Interests in fund structures, including venture debt fund and portfolio company valuations, and AIF/NCD hybrid instrument valuations
- Impairment testing (value-in-use) of investments and subsidiaries under Ind AS 36, including cross-border investee entities
- Land — industrial land parcels and commercial plots, valued on the sales comparison method against the applicable ready-reckoner, jantri, or collector rate
- Residential — flats in multi-storey buildings, valued on the cost approach with proportionate land apportionment across floors
- Commercial — a commercial plot involving a related-party sale, requiring the bare-land value and the contracted construction obligation to be separately analysed
- Industrial — industrial land and factory sheds, valued using the two-component cost approach: land at the ready-reckoner rate, structure at PWD Schedule of Rates with age-based depreciation
- Constructed properties — completed residential flats and industrial sheds, coordinated with an L&B-registered valuer
- Under-construction properties — a commercial plot where the transaction value reflected an obligation to complete construction after the valuation date
- Development rights — transferable development rights (TDR) and floor space index (FSI) valuations, coordinated through the same Land and Building engagement structure alongside the firm’s share or business valuation
Client names are withheld here for confidentiality; the list above reflects the categories of property and asset actually valued across the firm’s engagement history, not a generic capability statement.
3. When Is a Registered Valuer Legally Mandatory?
3.1 Companies Act, 2013
An RV certificate is mandatory under the Companies Act, 2013 for, among other actions:
- Preferential allotment of shares — Section 62(1)(c) read with Rule 13 of the Companies (Share Capital and Debentures) Rules, 2014
- Private placement of securities — Section 42 read with Rule 14 of the same Rules
- Mergers, demergers, and schemes of arrangement — Sections 230 to 232
- Compromise, arrangement, and buy-back of shares — Section 236 (registered valuer’s report on exit valuation for minority shareholders)
- Sweat equity issuance where valuation of intellectual property or know-how is involved
3.2 Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016
Under Regulation 27 of the CIRP Regulations, 2016 (as amended by the IBBI (CIRP) (Amendment) Regulations, 2026, notified 25 February 2026), the Resolution Professional must appoint two sets of registered valuers — one for each asset class of the corporate debtor — within seven days of appointment and no later than the 47th day from the insolvency commencement date. Regulation 35 governs how fair value and liquidation value are computed from their reports, including the appointment of a third valuer where two estimates for an asset class differ by 25% or more. Since IBBI Circular IBBI/RV/93/2026 (1 April 2026), all IBC valuations must comply with International Valuation Standards (IVS). Under the IBBI (Liquidation Process) (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2026 (effective 20 May 2026), MSME liquidations require only one registered valuer per asset class instead of two.
3.3 SEBI Regulations
Under the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) (Amendment) Regulations, 2025 (Notification No. SEBI/LAD-NRO/GN/2025/283, gazetted 3 December 2025, in force from 2 January 2026), Regulations 8 and 9 now require an independent Registered Valuer to determine the open offer price for shares that are not frequently traded, the price on an indirect acquisition where the prescribed parameters do not apply, and the swap ratio where consideration is other than cash — replacing the acquirer and the manager to the open offer for this purpose. A nine-month transition applied to assignments already under way as of that date. For listed-company delisting, SEBI’s Delisting Regulations similarly draw on independent valuation input.
4. Registered Valuer vs. SEBI Merchant Banker — Not Interchangeable
This is the single most common source of confusion for companies engaging a valuer for the first time. See our detailed comparison: IBBI Registered Valuer vs. SEBI Merchant Banker. An IBBI Registered Valuer and a SEBI Category-I Merchant Banker are licensed by different regulators, for different statutes, and one cannot substitute for the other:
- Registered Valuer (IBBI) — required wherever the Companies Act, 2013 or the IBC mandates a valuation, as set out in Section 3 above. Governed by the Companies (Registered Valuers and Valuation) Rules, 2017.
- Merchant Banker (SEBI Category I) — required for determining fair market value of unquoted equity shares under Rule 57 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 (the successor to Rule 11UA of the erstwhile 1962 Rules), relevant to Sections 26(2)(j), 72, and 92 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, and, with effect from 1 April 2026, for ESOP perquisite valuation on the exercise date under Rule 15 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 read with Section 17(1) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (the successor to Rule 3(8)/3(9) of the 1962 Rules). It is also the certifying professional for FEMA pricing guidelines on cross-border share transactions.
A share issuance frequently needs both certificates in the same engagement — an RV certificate for the Companies Act filing and an MB certificate for the tax-law fair market value — because each certifies compliance with a separate statute. Where a transaction also requires a Merchant Banker’s certificate, that certificate is issued by a SEBI-registered Category-I Merchant Banker within the same coordinated engagement.
5. Valuation Approaches a Registered Valuer Applies
IBBI Valuation Standards require a Registered Valuer to consider all three internationally recognised approaches and document the rationale for the one selected:
- Income approach — Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) to equity (FCFE) or to the firm (FCFF), and capitalisation of earnings, used for going-concern businesses with a reasonable projection basis
- Market approach — Comparable Company Multiple (CCM), Comparable Transaction Multiple, and volume-weighted average price (VWAP) for listed benchmarks, used where sufficient comparable data exists
- Asset/cost approach — Net Asset Value (NAV), depreciated replacement cost, and net realisable value, used for asset-heavy, holding, or distressed entities, and for land, building, and plant and machinery valuations specifically
For land and building valuations, the cost approach typically combines the applicable state ready-reckoner or jantri land rate with a PWD Schedule of Rates-based construction cost, adjusted for age-based depreciation.
6. Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What types of property can a Registered Valuer value?
Depending on the asset class they are registered in, a Registered Valuer can value equity and preference shares, debentures and other securities, business/enterprise value and goodwill (Securities or Financial Assets); land, residential, commercial, and industrial buildings, and development rights (Land and Building); or manufacturing machinery, equipment, and vehicles (Plant and Machinery). A valuer registered in one class cannot certify assets outside it. For the specific categories of property Marcken Consulting has valued in practice, see Section 2.4 above.
Q2. Is a Registered Valuer the same as a Merchant Banker?
No. They are licensed by different regulators for different statutes. See Section 4 above for the full distinction.
Q3. Can a Chartered Accountant issue a Registered Valuer’s report?
Only if that Chartered Accountant is separately registered with the IBBI as a Registered Valuer for the relevant asset class. Holding a CA qualification alone does not confer authority to issue an RV report under the Companies Act or IBC.
Q4. How long does a Registered Valuer’s report take?
A straightforward share valuation typically takes one to two weeks once financials and supporting documents are available. IBC valuations follow the statutory 45-day submission timeline under Regulation 35 from the date of appointment.
Conclusion
The Registered Valuer framework exists to bring an independent, statutorily accountable opinion into transactions where a company’s own assessment of value cannot be taken at face value — share issuances, mergers, insolvency resolution, and related-party dealings among them. Knowing which of the three asset classes covers your requirement, and whether the transaction additionally needs a Merchant Banker’s certificate under tax law, is the first step to getting the compliance right the first time.
Marcken Consulting provides Registered Valuer services on a pan-India basis. While the firm is headquartered in Ahmedabad, engagements are handled remotely for companies across India, with data exchange by email, video consultations, and digital delivery of signed reports; site visits for Land and Building engagements are arranged where necessary. For a broader view of who is authorised to sign a valuation report in India, see: Who Can Issue a Business Valuation Report in India?
Marcken Consulting is an IBBI Registered Valuer (Securities or Financial Assets) and works alongside SEBI Category-I Merchant Bankers to deliver coordinated valuation reports across the Companies Act, IBC, Income-tax Act, and FEMA. To discuss a specific requirement, book a no-charge 30-minute consultation.
Reach out to us at: marckenconsulting.com
Marcken Consulting LLP — IBBI-Registered Valuer (Securities or Financial Assets) | Ahmedabad
Phone: +91 99980 59923 / +91 99985 39902
Email: crm@marckenconsulting.com
