Number of registered companies climbs to 1.53 million in January

The total number of companies registered in the country rose to more than 1.53 million in January while only 1.08 million of them were active ones.

In signs that business activities are picking up, more than 7,300 new companies were set up last month. At the end of December 2015, the total number of registered firms stood at little over 1.52 million.

Latest data compiled by the corporate affairs ministry shows there were as many as 1.53 million registered companies at the end of January, with majority of them from the private sector.

Only about 1.08 million companies were active whereas the count of closed entities stood at 283,000 last month.

According to the data, more than 28,300 companies were under the process of closure at the end of January.

Among the active companies, 1.07 million were limited by shares and the maximum were private sector entities.

All the firms are registered under the Companies Act, implemented by the corporate affairs ministry.

In recent times, the government has been making efforts to further improve the ease of doing business in the country and among other measures, certain provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 have been amended.

Most provisions of the Act, which replaces the nearly six-decade old law, came into force from April 1, 2014.

Earlier this month, a high-level panel, set up by the ministry, suggested a raft of amendments to the Act.

The committee endeavoured to reconcile the competing interests of the various stakeholders, keeping in mind the difficulties and challenges expressed by them, according to the ministry.