India might have more than 14 lakh registered companies but only about 9.87 lakh entities were active at the end of August, according to official data.
Out of the total registered companies, nearly 2.60 lakh have been closed down while thousands of entities are in the process of winding up.
Corporates are registered under the Companies Act, which is implemented by the Corporate Affairs Ministry.
Latest data from the Ministry show that there were about 9.87 lakh active companies as on August 31 and the figure includes 1.27 lakh firms which were incorporated within the last one-and-a-half years.
"As on August 31, 2014, the number of companies registered under the Companies Act was 14.16 lakhs. Of these, 2.59 lakh companies were closed and 27,218 companies are in the process of being closed," as per the Ministry's latest monthly newsletter.
Besides, around 1.42 lakh companies were classified as 'dormant' -- those which have not filed their annual statutory filings for more than three consecutive years.
Meanwhile, a total of 6,676 new companies were registered in August and their authorised capital stood at Rs 1,006 crore.
"Under the category of companies registered as limited by shares, Delhi had maximum number of registrations (1,250) followed by Maharashtra (1,199) and Uttar Pradesh (514).
"Economic activity-wise maximum number of companies (2,878) were registered under Business Services (IT and R&D)," the Ministry said.
