MEANING AND DEFINITION OF HOLDING AND SUBSIDIARY COMPANY :
According to section 2(46) of the Companies Act, 2013, “holding company”, in relation to one or more other companies, means a company of which such companies are subsidiary companies.
According to section 2(87) of the Companies Act, 2013, “subsidiary company” or “subsidiary”, in relation to any other company (that is to say the holding company), means a company in which the holding company—
(i) controls the composition of the Board of Directors; or
(ii) exercises or controls more than one-half of the total share capital either at its own or together with one or more of its subsidiary companies:
Provided that such class or classes of holding companies as may be prescribed shall not have layers of subsidiaries beyond such numbers as may be prescribed. For the purposes of this clause,—
(a) a company shall be deemed to be a subsidiary company of the holding company even if the control referred to in sub-clause (i) or sub-clause (ii) is of another subsidiary company of the holding company;
(b) the composition of a company’s Board of Directors shall be deemed to be controlled by another company if that other company by exercise of some power exercisable by it at its discretion can appoint or remove all or a majority of the directors;
(c) the expression “company” includes any body corporate;
(d) “layer” in relation to a holding company means its subsidiary or subsidiaries.
The definition of a subsidiary as per the 2013 Act includes associates and joint ventures.
Explanation with Example
Suppose, H is holding company of S because 51 % shares are of H in S. S is also of holding Company of R because S have power to appoint the board of directors of R Company and then H is also holding Company of R.