A total of 27 companies, including the local divisions of Vodafone, HSBC and Standard Chartered, underpaid taxes in share transfers during the last financial year, Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram confirmed.

Mr. Chidambaram named the companies in a written reply to a question asked by a lawmaker. The lawmakers had asked the finance ministry to reveal which companies were at odds with the country's tax department over issues of share-transfer pricing.

Transfer pricing is a regular part of doing business for multinational companies. But, the tax department alleges that many of these companies transferred shares or other products to their foreign arms or parent companies at much lower price than what they worth, in order to evade heavy taxes.

India's tax department has accelerated enforcement of tax collections and actions against such global companies as part of the government's aim to make up for a revenue deficit.

While Mumbai-based spokesperson for HSBC declined to comment on the matter, the Indian arm of British mobile network provider Vodafone has confirmed that it has challenged the tax department's order that sought Rs 1,300 crore in tax for undervaluing shares that it had transferred to a Mauritius-based group firm.

Separately, oil giant Shell's Indian division filed a petition in the Bombay High Court on Wednesday challenging the tax department's allegation that the company undervalued a share sale by nearly Rs 152 billion.