India has more than 18 lakh registered companies but only 62 percent of them were actively functioning at the end of October, according to official data.
The majority of active companies were engaged in business services.
With more than 6.46 lakh companies shuttered and many others undergoing various regulatory processes, including liquidation, the total number of active entities stood at 11.16 lakh during the period.
Latest data from the corporate affairs ministry showed that there were a little over 18.10 lakh registered companies at the end of October.
In terms of total registered companies, nearly 62 percent of them were active last month.
Entities are required to get registered under the Companies Act, which is implemented by the ministry, to function as companies.
Among the total number of registered companies, 6.46 lakh entities were shut down and 39,736 companies were in the process of being deregistered.
"Out of the 6,46,882 closed companies, 10,574 companies were liquidated/ dissolved; 6,00,048 companies were declared defunct…," the ministry said in its information bulletin for the month of October.
As many as 9,565 companies were converted to Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs).
Out of the 11.16 lakh active companies, the ministry said, a little over 11.09 lakh entities were limited by shares.
"Out of the companies limited by shares, 64,547 were public, 1,044,806 were private including 19,555 one person companies. Among the public limited companies, 6,960 were listed," it added.
At October end, Maharashtra had the highest number of registered companies (3.59 lakh), followed by Delhi (3.26 lakh), and West Bengal (1.98 lakh).
In terms of economic activities, 3.57 lakh active companies were engaged in business services while 2.23 lakh firms were into manufacturing.
Jobs
Meanwhile,Terming the criticism of jobless growth during the NDA government as "spurious", NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar has said that 7 million jobs were created in the financial year 2017-18 alone.
Kumar further said that growth in sales of transport vehicles, huge disbursement of Mudra loans and EPFO data show that enough opportunities for employment and self-employment were created during the past four years of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
Recently, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said the BJP-led government's promise to generate 20 million jobs annually has turned out to be a "gimmick".
"With all due respect, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh does not put forward the data (on employment generation), I think this is a spurious charge and I think the debate should be much more on further improving the quality of the jobs," Kumar told PTI.
Noting that production of trucks, three-wheelers and auto rickshaws is rising significantly, Kumar said: "According to EPFO data, 7 million jobs were created in 2017-18".
The Narendra Modi-led NDA government came to power in May 2014.
He further said if unemployment is rising in the country then real wages in both rural and urban regions should decline, but it's not happening.