(1) Every application for registration shall be made to a registering authority within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the owner of the inland 1 [mechanically propelled vessel] ordinarily resides or carries on business.
(2) Where the owner applying for a certificate of registration is a company 2 [within the meaning of section 3 of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956)], the application may be made to a registering authority within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the principal office of the company is situate.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, an inland 1 [mechanically propelled vessel] may be registered by a registering authority in any State, although the owner does not ordinarily reside or carry on business in that State or, if a company, the principal place of business of the company is not situate in that State:
Provided that the Government of the State in which the owner ordinarily resides or carries on business, or in the case of a company the Government of the State where the principal place of business of the company is situate, has accorded its previous approval thereto.