Active companies jump by 162,800 in FY25; services lead the pack but industry draws more capital

The number of active companies in India increased by over 162,800 in FY25, led by the industrial and services sectors, data from the ministry of corporate affairs showed.

While new business registrations shot up mainly due to the services sector, which accounted for about two-thirds of all new business registrations in the April to February period of FY25, it was the industrial sector, representing businesses like manufacturing, textiles, mining and quarrying, and metals and chemicals, that did the heavy lifting in attracting more investments. However, they made up only about a fourth of all new business registrations, data from the ministry showed.

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While the number of companies formed in FY25 is available, the breakdown of sectoral registrations and paid-up capital—investments received by the company from those subscribing to its shares—is available only for the April to February period of FY25.

In this period, 1,41,675 companies were registered, attracting close to ₹3.36 trillion in paid-up capital. 

While the service sector accounted for the bulk of registrations in this period, it attracted only ₹90,522 crore in paid-up capital. 

In comparison, industry, which accounted for a fourth of all registrations, represents over 82% of the paid-up capital received in the period.

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The 4,670 companies in the farm sector received ₹4,041 crore in paid-up capital during the period. 

Steady growth, steady exits

To be sure, companies represent only a small fraction of the overall entrepreneurial activity, as a large part of economic activities take place in the unincorporated or informal sector. Compared to the 1.85 million active companies at the end of March 2025, there are over 73.4 million unincorporated enterprises in the country, according to a survey of such entities released by the statistics ministry in December. 

The country’s commercial capital, Maharashtra, continues to be the state with the highest number of active companies, followed by Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Over 26,000 companies, which are not part of the list of active companies, are currently in the process of being removed from the official registry for being defunct. Companies will be removed from the registry if they do not file their annual returns for two consecutive years unless they secure a dormant status for the period of inactivity.

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So far, the government has struck off 8,74,228 companies from the registry for not filing annual returns for two consecutive years. This suggests that about one in every three companies set up in the country has been removed from official records. Companies tend not to file annual returns if they fail or do not start operations after setting up for various economic reasons.