The total number of companies in the official Registry of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has crossed the 13 lakh mark. As on 31.05.2013, there were 13.21 lakh companies in the Registry. Of these, as many as 2.6 lakh companies have been closed for various reasons, such as court order, voluntary winding up, etc. There are 30,435 companies that are in the process of being liquidated. As many as 1.44 lakh companies have not filed their Annual Returns/ Balance Sheets (i.e., Annual Statutory Filings) for more than past three consecutive years and are classified as ‘dormant’. Thus, actually there are 8.77 lakh active companies of which 1.5 lakh companies had been incorporated within the preceding 18 months (not due for filing).

KKP

(Release ID :97248)

Company registry expansion masks compliance gaps as many registered firms are closed, liquidating, or classified dormant. The corporate registry total exceeds thirteen lakh entries, but many are non-operational: companies closed by court order or voluntary winding up, a separate group in liquidation, and entities classified as dormant for failing to file Annual Returns/Balance Sheets for three consecutive years; after excluding these categories, the number of active companies is significantly lower, with a portion recently incorporated and not yet due for statutory filings.