Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said Maharashtra recorded the highest number of new industries registrations in 2025-26

Xtreme News India   14-08-2026 18:40:44   78906392

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said Maharashtra recorded the highest number of new industries registrations in 2025-26

Mumbai (Special correspondent) - Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday rejected NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar's claim that thousands of companies in the state were closing down. Pawar on Thursday had claimed that over 36,000 private companies closed down in the last five years.

Countering Pawar's claim, the Chief Minister stated that 76 per cent of such firms were "defunct, meaning they had never become operational".

Maharashtra continues to have the highest number of active companies in the country, he asserted.

Pawar had quoted the date presented in Lok Sabha on August 10 on the closure of companies. He had also raised concerns over reports that 20 companies in the Chakan industrial area in Pune had decided to relocate over problems related to traffic congestion, pollution, water, power and poor roads.

Fadnavis said that the data provided in Parliament should be viewed in proper context.

Of the companies that are closed, 76 per cent are defunct companies. Defunct means dysfunctional -- companies that never actually started operations, Fadnavis said.

Sharing data, the chief minister said India has more than 31 lakh registered companies, of which around 21 lakh are currently active. The number of active companies in the country has increased from 6,78,768 in 2015-16 to 21,17,747 now, representing more than a three-fold increase over the past decade, he said.

Maharashtra continues to have the highest number of active companies in the country, with 3,96,211 as of June 3, 2026, followed by Delhi with 2,72,342 and Uttar Pradesh with 1,85,982, Fadnavis said.

Barring the COVID period, he said, an average of 20,000-22,000 companies are closed every year. Of these, around 76 per cent are defunct companies, 12 per cent are cases of amalgamation and two per cent have been dissolved.

The chief minister also highlighted the number of new businesses being registered in the state. He said around one lakh new companies are registered across India every year. Maharashtra recorded the highest number of new registrations in 2025-26, with 41,525 companies. 

Delhi recorded 20,272 new registrations, while Uttar Pradesh had 27,494. Karnataka registered 17,857 companies, followed by Telangana with 17,300, Tamil Nadu with 17,024, Gujarat with 14,666 and West Bengal with 10,598.

On Pawar's concerns over Chakan, Fadnavis acknowledged that the industrial area was facing problems and said Industries Minister Uday Samant had been directed to look into them. 

Fadnavis attributed the Chakan problem to presence of too many agencies. "We have realised that there are 5-7 government agencies and there is no one authority that is accountable," he said.

A meeting involving the district administration, Public Works Department, Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA), National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Zilla Parishad and other agencies was held on August 12 on the initiative of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation, he said. 

After hearing all the problems, both a short-term and a long-term plan have been finalised to find solutions. Our effort will be to ensure that not a single industry leaves Chakan, he added.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, who is the guardian minister of Pune district, said in a statement that problems in the Chakan industrial area will be taken up on priority.

She said a meeting would soon be held with industrialists from Chakan and officials to discuss the issues and work out solutions. The deputy chief minister also spoke to representatives of industrial associations.

The data that Pawar shared was presented by the Corporate Affairs Ministry in Parliament in response to a question raised by Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Rajabhau Waje.

Fadnavis, however, maintained that Maharashtra continues to lead in attracting investment.

"Maharashtra is industry-friendly and will remain so. We have consistently been number one in foreign investment and will remain number one," he said.