New Delhi, Apr 18 (PTI) More than 1.67 lakh companies were incorporated in the country in the last financial year compared to 1.55 lakh new companies registered in the year-ago period, according to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).

In a statement on Monday, the ministry said the increase is significant considering that number of companies incorporated during the financial year 2020-21 was the highest in any of the previous years.

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"The incorporations during FY 2021-22 are 8 per cent more than the incorporations during FY 2020-21. While MCA had registered 1.24 lakh companies during FY 2018-19 and 1.22 lakh companies in 2019-20, respectively, it had registered 1.55 lakh companies during FY 2020-21," it said.

The ministry, which is implementing the Companies Act, 2013, among other legislations, has been taking various initiatives in efforts to reduce procedures and save time as well as cost in terms of starting a business in the country.

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In the last financial year, the maximum number of companies were incorporated in the business services (44,168) segment, followed by manufacturing (34,640), community, personal & social services (23,416), and agriculture & allied activities (13,387).

The states having the highest number of registrations were Maharashtra (31,107 companies) followed by Uttar Pradesh (16,969), Delhi (16,323), Karnataka (13,403) and Tamil Nadu (11,020).

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)