OpenRegistry exposes India's MCA registry via MCP with raw field fidelity
OpenRegistry queries India's Ministry of Corporate Affairs dataset through data.gov.in and surfaces it via MCP tools, preserving the original column names and raw fields across company profiles, director listings, and filings.
Score breakdown
The post documents both the query patterns and the structural gaps — absent beneficial ownership data and no historical record reconstruction — that investigators encounter when tracing ownership chains through Indian entities in cross-border work.
- 01India's Corporate Identification Number (CIN) is a 21-character identifier; characters six and seven encode the state code (e.g., GJ for Gujarat, MH for Maharashtra).
- 02OpenRegistry queries the MCA dataset via data.gov.in and returns raw upstream fields with no scoring or interpretation layer added.
- 03Original MCA column names are preserved inside a `jurisdiction_data` field in the API response.
OpenRegistry's post describes how it queries India's MCA registry via the data.gov.in open data catalogue and surfaces the results through MCP tools consistent with its other 27 supported jurisdictions. The API returns the upstream fields without modification — no scoring layer, no reinterpretation — and preserves the original MCA column names inside `jurisdiction_data`. This matters in practice because court filings, insolvency orders, and regulatory notices reference those exact labels, making cross-referencing straightforward.
The Director Identification Number (DIN) is highlighted as a stable pivot point — one individual may sit on dozens of boards, and the DIN resolves ambiguity around common surnames across Mumbai incorporations.
The post walks through four MCP tool calls: `search_companies` (by name and jurisdiction), `get_company_profile` (using the CIN), `get_officers` (returning director names, DINs, designations, and appointment dates), and `list_filings` (returning filing descriptions, dates, and document identifiers that can be passed to `fetch_document`). The Director Identification Number (DIN) is highlighted as a stable pivot point — one individual may sit on dozens of boards, and the DIN resolves ambiguity around common surnames across Mumbai incorporations. The CIN's structure also encodes geographic signals: characters six and seven carry the state code, with `GJ` for Gujarat and `MH` for Maharashtra.
The post is candid about the dataset's limitations. India's Significant Beneficial Owner rules exist under the Companies Act, but the public datasets on data.gov.in do not constitute a full beneficial ownership register, leaving a gap that becomes visible in cross-border investigations. The upstream dataset reflects the current state of the record only — resigned directors who no longer appear in the live listing are not reconstructed historically. Additionally, some filings referenced in the dataset link to documents that remain gated behind the MCA portal, requiring manual retrieval.
Key facts
- 01India's Corporate Identification Number (CIN) is a 21-character identifier; characters six and seven encode the state code (e.g., GJ for Gujarat, MH for Maharashtra).
- 02OpenRegistry queries the MCA dataset via data.gov.in and returns raw upstream fields with no scoring or interpretation layer added.
- 03Original MCA column names are preserved inside a `jurisdiction_data` field in the API response.
- 04A standard company profile includes CIN, company name, company status, class, category, date of incorporation, registered address, and `roc_code`.
- 05Director records include `director_name`, `din` (Director Identification Number), designation, and appointment date; the DIN serves as a stable cross-board pivot identifier.
- 06`list_filings` returns filing descriptions, dates, and document identifiers; `fetch_document` can retrieve the underlying file when the dataset exposes it.
- 07The MCA public dataset is not a full beneficial ownership register, and historical director data is not reconstructed if a director no longer appears in the current record.
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