Consolidated financial statements must be prepared for group companies and laid before the annual general meeting alongside company accounts. Companies with one or more subsidiaries or associate companies must prepare a consolidated financial statement of the company and all subsidiaries and associates in the same form and manner as the company's own statements and in accordance with applicable accounting standards, and lay it before the annual general meeting along with the company's financial statements; the company must also attach a separate statement containing the salient features of each subsidiary's and associate's financial statement in a prescribed form, and the Central Government may prescribe the manner of consolidation.