After raising Rs 356 cr, 78 companies untraceable; 17 such firms in Gujarat

As many as 78 companies are untraceable after raising Rs 356 crore from investors, with Gujarat having the maximum number of 17 such firms, Parliament was informed on Friday.

These entities are from Andhra Pradesh Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, among others.

Vanishing companies are those that fail to file documents and balance sheets after raising funds through public issues and are untraceable.

Cumulatively, these 78 vanishing companies have raised about Rs 356.68 crore. Gujarat, at 17, has the maximum number of such firms, followed by Andhra Pradesh (15).

Besides, Tamil Nadu have 9 vanishing firms, Maharashtra (8), West Bengal and New Delhi (5 each), Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh (4 each), Karnataka (2), and Punjab and Odisha (1 each).

A total of 238 companies were initially identified by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs as vanishing companies, which raised money through public issues, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

Of these, 160 companies have been deleted from the list as they were subsequently traced. Presently, only 78 companies remain untraced, he added.

To a question on status about DCM Finance, Nova Pumech, Alps BPO Service, Birmingham Thermotech, Kolar Biotech, Mini Software, Padmini Technologies, Punsumi India, Sunstar Software, Vatsa Corporation, the minister said these companies were not identified as vanishing companies.

In a separate query, Meghwal said a total of 11.58 lakh companies are active in the first 11 months of the current financial year, higher than 10.89 lakh firms in the preceding fiscal, indicating growth of Indian corporate sector.

Besides, number of such companies stood at 10.22 lakh and 9.52 lakh in 2014-16 and 2013-14, respectively.

"The impact of corporate growth on employment scenario in the country has not been assessed," Meghwal said.

He further said that ministry has taken a number of measures to promote growth of corporate sector and improve ease of doing business in the country.

These include doing away with the payment of minimum paid up capital at the time of incorporation as well as declaration of commencement of business by the companies, mandatory common seal for companies has been made optional and granting various exemptions under Companies Act.