Corporate purge: Govt strikes off 1.85 lakh firms

New Delhi: The government on Monday said 2,04,268 private companies have closed down during the last five years. These companies have been shut down on account of amalgamation, conversion, dissolution and struck off from the records under the Companies Act-2013. According to data provided in a written reply by Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Harsh Malhotra to Lok Sabha, 20,365 private companies were closed down in 2024-25, while the count was at 21,181 and 83,452 in 2023-24 and 2022-23, respectively. The number of shuttered private companies stood at 64,054 in 2021-22 and 15,216 in 2020-21.

To a query on whether employees of the closed down private companies have been rehabilitated, the minister said there is no proposal before the government. Meanwhile, as many as 1,85,350 companies have been removed from the official records in five financial years starting from 2021-2022, with 8,648 entities struck off till July 16 this fiscal.

Generally, under the Companies Act, 2013, entities can be removed from the official records if they are not carrying out business activities for long or companies can also seek voluntary removal after fulfilling various regulatory requirements.