As many as 820 companies have closed down in Haryana during the Covid-19 pandemic period from April 2020 till date.

While 436 companies registered with Registrar of Companies were closed in 2020-21, mostly due to the financial stress brought on by the first wave of Covid-19, 384 companies have shut down from April 1, 2021 till now in the state, as per the data tabled in Parliament on Monday.

In neighbouring States of Punjab and Himachal, 727 and 250 companies respectively closed down from April 2020 till date while in Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, 380 companies have shut down during the same period of time.

As per the data, a total of 33,161 companies had shut down in the last five financial years till date during the tenure of Manohar Lal Khattar Government in Haryana while 33,523 have been registered with the Register of Companies during the same time period. The ‘closed down’ companies also included those struck off from the Register of Companies which were not carrying on any business or operation for a period of two immediately preceding financial years and had not made any application within such period for obtaining the status of a dormant company under section 455 of Companies Act and those companies which were dissolved through amalgamation or otherwise with the approval of the courts.

Giving details of the total number of companies, registered with the Registrar of Companies, that were closed down after the demonetization, GST and Covid pandemic, the data showed, a large number of 27,895 companies were closed in 2018-19 in Haryana, a year after implementation of GST in July 2017. This number of closed companies in Haryana was second highest in the country after Daman and Die where 30,855 had shut down in the same financial year.

Similarly, 171 companies were shut down in 2016-17 and 4,086 closed in 2017-18 after the implementation of demonetisation in November 2016. 189 companies were closed in 2019-20 in the State, the data stated. In Punjab, a total of 8,877 companies, a maximum of 4,663 in fiscal 2019-20 were shut down while in the hill State of Himachal, 5,385 companies, including highest 4,164 in fiscal 2018-19 were closed from April 2016 till now. In union territory of Chandigarh, 14,295 companies including a maximum of 11,796 in fiscal 2019-20 were shut down during the same period of nearly six years. Overall, 22,557 companies were closed from April 1, 2021, till date in the country. 14,674 companies were shut down in 2020-21, 70972 in 2019-20, 1,43,233 in 2018-19, 236,262 in 2017-18 and 12, 808 in 2016-17.

33,523 companies registered in Haryana since April 1, 2016 till date

During the Covid-19 crisis, a high number of 7,704 companies were registered in 2020-21 in Haryana while 5,127 have been registered from April 1, 2021 till date.

A total of 5931 companies were registered in 2019-20, 5,796 companies in 2018-19, 4,730 in 2017-18 and 4,235 in 2016-17, according to the data.

Similarly, a high number of 2071 companies were registered in 2020-21 in Punjab, 1583 from April, 2021 till now. 1589 companies were registered in 2019-20, 127 in 2018-19, 1321 in 2016-17 and 1037 in 2016-17.

2975 companies were registered in Chandigarh from April 2016 till now while 2734 were registered in Himachal during the same time period.