Foreign companies in India: Kerala gets 4 in 5 yrs, better than Bihar, behind others | Onmanorama News

Kerala’s recent push for foreign investment in the state makes sense, considering only four foreign companies were registered during the present government’s tenure, according to the data furnished in the Rajya Sabha.

The figures were made available for the period between 2020 and 2025 by the Minister of State for Corporate Affairs, Harsh Malhotra. State-wise details of the number of foreign companies registered in the country in the past five years show that Kerala trails Delhi, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Haryana, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. West Bengal has also fared better than Kerala with 10 registrations.

According to the figures, Delhi and Maharashtra recorded the highest number of foreign company registrations in five years: 93 and 85, respectively. Among Southern states, Kerala finds itself behind Tamil Nadu (34), Karnataka (23) and Telangana (9).

Kerala recorded one foreign company registration in 2022, two in 2024 and one in 2025. Bihar, Assam, Madhya Pradesh are a few other states which have recorded lesser registrations than Kerala in five years. A foreign company is defined under the Companies Act, 2013, which means any company or body corporate incorporated outside India that has a place of business in India, whether by itself or through an agent, physically or through electronic mode, and conducts any business activity in India in any other manner. Thus, foreign companies are incorporated outside India and have a business place in India. These companies are set up with foreign capital.

In the recently concluded Invest Kerala Global Summit, the state boosted partnerships and launched campaigns to attract overseas investments. The press note issued by the government noted that many countries expressed interest in investments in key sectors like tourism, healthcare and education. Australia, France, Malaysia, Norway and Vietnam were the partner countries of Kerala in the summit. Representatives from as many as 17 countries also took part in the meet.

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