As many as 3,291 foreign companies were active out of the 5,068 overseas companies that had registered their place of business in India till September this year, according to the government.

Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Rao Inderjit Singh on Monday said that information about 'ceasing of operations' is not maintained by the corporate affairs ministry.

Foreign companies are required to register their 'place of business' in India as also ceasing of their 'place of business' in India with Registrar of Companies, Delhi.

Citing data from the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Delhi, Singh said 877 foreign companies have ceased their 'place of business' in India between 2014 and November 2021.

He also said that Ford and Harley Davidson have not closed their place of business in India.

''There are 3,291 number of foreign companies having active status out of 5,068 foreign companies having registered their place of business in India till September 2022,'' the minister said in a written reply.

To another query, he said that overall, there has been a marked improvement in the indicators relating to ease of doing business.

''As per the data base maintained by the ministry, the number of companies incorporated has increased from 1,22,721 in 2019-20 to 1,67,076 in 2021-22 and 1,15,229 this year till November, 2022,'' he added.

In a separate written reply, Singh said the ministry had issued instructions in August this year for the withdrawal of prosecution against companies in certain cases that do not involve serious breaches of law.

On whether such cases may include those seeking recovery of fees, penalties, or monetary damages by the government, the minister said no such cases are included.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without any modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)