New Delhi: Foreign interest in setting up a business in India picked up last year, with registrations by overseas companies hitting a five-year high in 2025, indicating growing global confidence in the market. More than four-fifths of new foreign entrants were from the services sector.
As many as 92 foreign companies registered in India in 2025 compared with 53 in 2024 and 76 in 2021, according to an ET analysis of data from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. A majority of these were set up in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi and Gujarat last year. The most recent year with more registrations (93) was 2020.
Under the Indian Companies Act, 2013, a foreign company is an overseas incorporated entity that conducts business in India. The uptick comes amid government initiatives to provide a business-friendly environment in India, including productionlinked incentive schemes across sectors, lower corporate tax for new manufacturing investments and efforts towards ease of doing business.
Services accounted for 87% (80 companies) of these new registrations in 2025, compared with 81.1% (43) the prior year. The service sector includes business services, community, personal & social services, real estate and renting, trading, transport, storage and communications, finance and insurance. The share of the industrial sector, including manufacturing, construction, mining & quarrying, fell to 13% from 15.1% in 2024.
The number of foreign manufacturing firms that came to set up business in India, however, increased to 10 in 2025 from two in 2024. Even as registrations increased, the proportion of active companies declined. India had 5,302 registered foreign companies as of December 2025, rising 5.3% from 2021. Out of these, 3,285 or 62% were active, compared with 65.8% in December 2021. Overall, the number of active registered companies in India rose to 2.01 million as of last December from about 1.80 million the year before and 1.44 million in 2021.
As many as 92 foreign companies registered in India in 2025 compared with 53 in 2024 and 76 in 2021, according to an ET analysis of data from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. A majority of these were set up in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi and Gujarat last year. The most recent year with more registrations (93) was 2020.
Under the Indian Companies Act, 2013, a foreign company is an overseas incorporated entity that conducts business in India. The uptick comes amid government initiatives to provide a business-friendly environment in India, including productionlinked incentive schemes across sectors, lower corporate tax for new manufacturing investments and efforts towards ease of doing business.
Services accounted for 87% (80 companies) of these new registrations in 2025, compared with 81.1% (43) the prior year. The service sector includes business services, community, personal & social services, real estate and renting, trading, transport, storage and communications, finance and insurance. The share of the industrial sector, including manufacturing, construction, mining & quarrying, fell to 13% from 15.1% in 2024.
The number of foreign manufacturing firms that came to set up business in India, however, increased to 10 in 2025 from two in 2024. Even as registrations increased, the proportion of active companies declined. India had 5,302 registered foreign companies as of December 2025, rising 5.3% from 2021. Out of these, 3,285 or 62% were active, compared with 65.8% in December 2021. Overall, the number of active registered companies in India rose to 2.01 million as of last December from about 1.80 million the year before and 1.44 million in 2021.