Singapore, US, UK lead in foreign cos entering India

New Delhi: The recent surge in foreign companies operating in India has mainly come from businesses based in Singapore, the US, the UK, South Korea and Germany, an ET analysis of data from the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) shows.

Along with Japan, these five countries accounted for over half of the total foreign company registrations in India in FY26, pushing the count to a nine-year high.Singapore was the highest contributor with 13 new registrations (seven in FY25), followed by the US at 10 (six in FY25) and the UK at nine (four in FY25), according to the MCA data. Germany led the growth with eight registrations, up from one in FY25, while South Korea's count grew to eight from four. Japan's fell to seven from eight.

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Last fiscal, registration of foreign companies in India rose to a nine-year high of 101, up from 57 in FY25. It was 103 in FY17.

According to Indian Companies Act, 2013, a foreign company is an overseas incorporated entity that conducts business in India whether by itself or through an agent.

South Africa, Ghana and Uzbekistan registered companies in India for the first time in FY26.

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Singapore, the US, the UK, Germany and Japan also feature among India's top 10 sources of foreign direct investment (FDI). Collectively, these five countries contributed 62.4% of total FDI equity inflows in FY26 (till December).

Data shows China ranked eighth in FY26 with three registrations compared with zero in the preceding three years.

On average, registration of Chinese firms in India fell to two annually between FY21 and FY26, down from nine annually during the FY18-20 stretch.

Overall, services accounted for around 90% of the total foreign registrations, while industry’s share (including manufacturing, mining and quarrying, electricity, gas and water supply) stood at 10%.

The services sector includes business services, community, personal and social services, real estate and renting, trading, transport, storage and communications, finance and insurance.