Over 10,000 companies were shut down voluntarily between April 2020 and February this year, the government informed the Parliament on Monday. The period coincides with the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic in the country and the subsequent nationwide lockdown, which disrupted economic activities significantly.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur on Monday said that a total of 10,113 companies were struck off under Section 248(2) of the Companies Act, 2013, in the current financial year till February.

Section 248(2) implies that the companies had shut their businesses voluntarily and not due to any penal action, according to PTI.

In a question to the Union ministry of corporate affairs, Benny Behanan, Congress MP from Chalakudy in Kerala, had asked for state-wise numbers for registered companies which have gone out of business during the year 2020-’21.

In response, Thakur said that ministry does not maintain any record of the companies that have gone out of business and instead furnished data for companies that were struck off under Section 248(2) of the Companies Act.

“MCA [Ministry of Corporate Affairs] has not run any drive to strike off companies suo moto during 2020-21,” Thakur said, in his reply. As per the ministry’s data, a total of 2,394 companies, most among all states and Union Territories, were struck off in Delhi, while the number stood at 1,936 companies in Uttar Pradesh.

Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra saw a shutting down of 1,322 and 1,279 companies, respectively, during the April 2020-February 2021 period.