FY2023-24 saw 1.85 lakh new companies registered in India

More than 1.85 lakh companies were registered in the country last fiscal, higher than the count recorded in the year-ago period, and nearly 16,600 companies were set up in March this year, according to official data.

As per the data, 1,59,524 companies were registered with a collective paid up capital of Rs 18,132.16 crore in 2022-23.

At the end of March 2024, the country had a total number of 26,63,016 companies and out of them, 16,91,495 companies or 64% were active.

As many as 9,31,644 registered companies were closed, 2,470 were dormant entities and 10,385 companies were under liquidation.

A total of 27,022 companies were under the process of being struck off from official records.

During FY 2023-24, a total of 1,85,312 companies were registered with a collective paid up capital of Rs 30,927.40 crore, according to the corporate affairs ministry's information bulletin for March.

Out of them, 71% were in the services sector, followed by 23% in the industrial segment and 6% in agriculture.

"Broader economic activity-wise classification reveals that community, personal and social services observed the highest rise of 11% in the service sector as compared with FY 2022-23," it said.

The ministry is implementing the Companies Act, 2013.

In terms of states, 17.6% of the new companies were set up in Maharashtra in 2023-24.

"There is an increase of 0.10% in the total proportion of active companies w.r.t registered companies when compared to February 2024," the bulletin said.

As on March 31, 2024, there were a total of 5,164 foreign companies registered in the country and out of them, 3,288 companies or 64% were active.

In March, the bulletin said 42,041 Director Identification Numbers were registered.

"Out of the total number of directors registered in India in March 2024, 67% were male and the remaining 33% were female... 43% of newly registered directors belong to the age group of 31-45 years.

"Furthermore, 7% of the new director registrations were older than 60 years," the bulletin said.