By: Ranjini K
October 3 2020
More than 36 percent(6.8 lakh) companies registered with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs have been closed in the Financial Year 2019.
More than 36 percent(6.8 lakh) companies registered with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs have been closed in the Financial Year 2019.Nirmala Sitharaman, Ministry of Finance and Corporate Affairs(MCA), responded to a query in Lok Sabha that out of 1,894,146 companies registered under the Companies Act, 683,317 companies were closed in 2019. As of May 31, 2019, 6,450 were under liquidation, 35,442 companies were in the process of being struck off from the register. Out of the 36 percent (6,83,317) of the companies that were shut down, 142,425 companies were from Maharashtra. More than 125,937 companies were from Delhi, around 67,000 companies from West Bengal, and the only state where there were no shutdowns was Sikkim. In Maharashtra after re-categorization, the shut down spiked to 38 percent from 15 percent and in Tamil Nadu from 24 percent to 44 percent (FY17 to May 2019). Sitharaman also said that the registered companies which have not filed their financial statements or annual returns for two financial years would be identified and struck off from the register, which was an unusual step taken by the government.