Driven by the industrial and services sectors, the number of active companies in the country surged by more than 162,800 last fiscal (FY25).

According to latest data from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), new business registrations surged as services sector accounted for about two-thirds of all new registrations.

In the April 2024-February 2025 period, 1,41,675 companies were registered, gaining nearly Rs 3.36 lakh crore in paid-up capital. The industrial sector represented over 82 per cent of the paid-up capital.

Major investments came in the industrial sector in the April-February period, like manufacturing, textiles, mining and quarrying, and metals and chemicals.

Meanwhile, a total number of 28,05,354 companies were registered in the country as of January 31, of which 65 per cent (18,17,222) companies were active, an increase of 0.14 per cent in the total proportion of active companies when compared to December 2024.

As on January 31, there were also 5,216 foreign companies registered in the country and out of them, 63 per cent or 3,281 entities were active.

Private limited companies account for 96 per cent of the total companies with 38 per cent of the total paid-up capital. In comparison, public limited companies are smaller in number (4 per cent) but comprise 62 per cent of the total paid-up capital, according to the Ministry's data.

Economic Sector-wise classification reveals that Business Services has been having the highest number of active companies (27 per cent) followed by Manufacturing (20 per cent), Trading and Community, and Personal and Social Services (13 per cent).

"It is also observed that the Services Sector saw the maximum increase in the total number of active Companies, followed by the Industry Sector and Agriculture Sector. In the Services Sector, Community, Personal and Social Services Sector showed the maximum rise in the number of Active Companies," according to a ministry statement.

The state-wise data shows that Maharashtra leads in the total number of active companies, with Delhi in the second position followed by Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.