Paid-up capital is the total amount of money a company has actually received from shareholders for their shares, measured at face value. It is the subset of authorised capital that has been issued and paid for.
Paid-up Capital = Number of Shares Issued × Face Value
Paid-up capital vs market cap
Paid-up capital is an accounting figure at face value (e.g. ₹10 per share). Market capitalisation is the market price of all outstanding shares — typically many times the paid-up capital for a profitable, growing company.
Why it matters for unlisted shares
Paid-up capital tells you how many shares exist at face value — it is the denominator used to derive total share count: Total Shares = Paid-up Capital ÷ Face Value. For an unlisted company, finding its paid-up capital in MCA filings and dividing by ₹10 (or the stated face value) gives you the total shares outstanding — essential for computing implied market cap from any per-share price.
Example: A company has ₹6.85 crore paid-up capital at ₹10 face value → 68.5 lakh shares. At ₹1,200/share unlisted price → implied market cap of ₹822 crore.