Registration Trend: Company Registration in India 2016–2026
In short
Registration Trend analyses MCA Company and LLP incorporation data from 2016–2026 through monthly, financial-year, calendar-year and general research.
Website calculation period: Financial-year research starts on 1 April 2016 (FY 2016–17). January–March 2016 is excluded from website research calculations. Each full financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March. FY 2021–22 has three missing source months; FY 2026–27 covers April–September 2026 only. Missing months are not estimated.
Registration Trend studies how India creates businesses through Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) incorporation data.
Company Registration is more than documents, fees and incorporation time. This research section tracks Private Companies, OPCs, Public Companies, Foreign Companies and LLPs from 1 April 2016 (FY 2016–17) onward, and studies how India's business-formation structure changes over time.
Financial Year-wise Company & LLP Registration in India
The financial-year table provides a long-term view of formal business formation in India. It separately tracks the major legal structures and helps identify structural changes rather than looking only at headline totals.
| Financial Year | Private | OPC | Public | Foreign | LLP | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | 90,855 | 4,843 | 2,142 | 155 | 29,407 | 1,27,402 |
| 2017-18 | 1,00,219 | 5,926 | 1,930 | 134 | 32,934 | 1,41,143 |
| 2018-19 | 1,14,496 | 6,598 | 2,811 | 118 | 23,640 | 1,47,663 |
| 2019-20 | 1,11,819 | 7,652 | 3,249 | 123 | 36,176 | 1,59,019 |
| 2020-21 | 1,43,057 | 8,946 | 3,370 | 82 | 42,185 | 1,97,640 |
| 2021-22* | 1,15,106 | 7,809 | 2,636 | 56 | 35,250 | 1,60,857 |
| 2022-23 | 1,47,325 | 8,975 | 2,674 | 50 | 35,790 | 1,94,814 |
| 2023-24 | 1,72,068 | 10,961 | 2,220 | 62 | 58,982 | 2,44,293 |
| 2024-25 | 1,68,176 | 11,454 | 1,435 | 57 | 68,669 | 2,49,791 |
| 2025-26 | 2,30,548 | 15,363 | 1,651 | 96 | 95,965 | 3,43,623 |
| 2026-27** | 1,26,327 | 7,955 | 747 | 51 | 59,849 | 1,94,929 |
*FY 2021-22 is incomplete: November 2021, January 2022 and March 2022 are unavailable in the current MCA source set and are not estimated. **FY 2026-27 currently covers April–September 2026.
From FY 2016-17 to FY 2025-26, the complete-year total increased from 1,27,402 to 3,43,623. Private Companies remain the largest structure, while LLPs have gained substantial importance in the overall mix.
Monthly Registration Trends
Select a month to compare that same month across the decade. Each monthly hub shows numbers + percentage share + year-on-year movement for Private Companies, OPCs, Public Companies, Foreign Companies and LLPs.
Each month-year will also have an individual report so readers can move from the long-term monthly comparison into the detailed report for a particular month.
Financial Year-wise Reports
FY 2016-17 · FY 2017-18 · FY 2018-19 · FY 2019-20 · FY 2020-21 · FY 2021-22* · FY 2022-23 · FY 2023-24 · FY 2024-25 · FY 2025-26 · FY 2026-27**
General Research — Company Registration Manthan
General research goes beyond totals to study legal-structure preference, industries, geography, seasonality, COVID, policy changes, technology shifts and unusual movements in the MCA database. The purpose is to understand what India is registering, how it is changing and what those changes may tell us about Indian enterprise.
Pvt Ltd vs LLP — What 10 Years of MCA Data Shows →
What Businesses Does India Register? →
State-wise Company Registration Research
State profiles: Maharashtra: Company registrations from FY 2016–17 onward. Follow each financial-year row in the state profile to its corresponding national report.
Company registrations have become less concentrated across the leading states/UTs. In FY 2025–26, Maharashtra recorded 41,623 Companies, Uttar Pradesh 27,553 and Delhi 20,793. The five leading states/UTs represented (50.57%) of Company registrations, compared with (59.04%) in FY 2016–17.
Read the state-wise report, complete FY 2025–26 table and financial-year comparison · How State from CIN is derived and interpreted
These are Company-only figures, including OPCs and Public Companies. LLPs and Foreign Companies are excluded. CIN-derived state identifies registration jurisdiction rather than every operating location.
Source and Methodology
State-wise: Explore all 28 states and 8 union territories, ranked by FY 2025–26 Company registrations. Company-only profiles begin in FY 2016–17. Private Companies, OPCs and Public Companies are included; LLPs are excluded.
Registration Trend primarily uses monthly incorporation data published by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Historical MCA formats changed during the period, so comparable fields are normalised where necessary. Missing source periods are disclosed rather than estimated, and measured findings are kept separate from interpretation.
Reviewed by CS. Bhavik Hariyani
Registration Trend is reviewed by CS. Bhavik Hariyani, Company Secretary and corporate advisor. The research is intended to move beyond Company Registration Process, fees, documents and timelines and study what India's incorporation data reveals about entrepreneurship, industries, legal structures and economic change.
Download the Registration Trend dataset
Use the same national counts shown in the published tables and charts. The files retain missing-month and partial-year coverage notes.
- Download the Excel workbook
- Download monthly counts (CSV)
- Download financial-year counts (CSV)
- Read the data definitions and coverage notes
National dataset: April 2016 to September 2026. Monthly coverage has 126 periods, including three unavailable months shown as blanks. FY 2021–22 is incomplete; FY 2026–27 covers April–September only. These downloads do not contain sector or state breakdowns.
Exported from the website’s published dataset on 27 October 2026. The monthly counts reconcile with its financial-year master table. The underlying MCA records were not re-audited for this export.
Research references and definitions
- MCA data and reports: original incorporation publications
- MoSPI NIC 2008: activity definitions and concordance
- Registration Trend: published source and coverage
- How State from CIN is derived
The national table includes Private Companies, OPCs, Public Companies, Foreign Companies and LLPs. Business-activity tables and state profiles use different populations; read each report’s coverage before comparing or adding figures.
NIC codes describe source classifications. A broad activity category is not an exact count for a modern label such as AI, SaaS or a cloud kitchen.
This page explains the law in simple words, for learning. It is not legal advice. Rules, fees and due dates change, so check the official source before you file. Spotted an error? Tell us on WhatsApp, and the page will be corrected.
Learn about each structure
Behind every number above is a choice founders made. These lessons explain what each structure is, how it is registered and what it costs to keep running.
