The National Statistical Office (NSO) has released district-level estimates of India’s unincorporated non-agricultural sector for the first time, providing granular insights into the distribution, employment, female participation and productivity of enterprises across districts.
The estimates, based on data from the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) 2025, cover 757 of 770 districts available in the sampling frame at the time of sample selection. The initiative marks the first time the NSO under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has disseminated district-level estimates from a large-scale, nationwide survey.
The report provides estimates covering the number of establishments and workers, ownership and employment patterns, women’s participation, registration status, emoluments per hired worker, and Gross Value Added (GVA) per establishment and per worker.
The district-level estimates also include corresponding estimates for million-plus cities located within the respective districts.
Top 50 districts account for nearly one-third of sector activity
The report highlights a significant geographical concentration of the unincorporated non-agricultural sector.
The top 10 districts, ranked by the estimated number of unincorporated establishments, account for about one-tenth of the country’s total establishments, workforce and GVA generated by the sector.
The concentration becomes more pronounced among the top 50 districts, which account for nearly one-third of total establishments, workforce and GVA.
The top 10 districts are spread across Gujarat, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, while the top 50 districts are distributed across 12 states – Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
The report also shows considerable variation in the size of the sector across districts. Roughly one-third of all districts have more than one lakh unincorporated establishments each, while around 9 per cent have fewer than 10,000 establishments.
Only 16 districts have more than five lakh unincorporated establishments each. These include eight districts in West Bengal, three in Maharashtra, two in Gujarat and one each in Karnataka, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.
280 districts record productivity above national average
The district-level estimates also reveal substantial differences in the economic productivity of unincorporated enterprises.
In around 331 districts, GVA per worker is estimated to be between ₹1 lakh and ₹1.5 lakh.
At the same time, 280 districts record GVA per worker above the all-India average of ₹1,56,539, indicating relatively higher levels of economic productivity in these districts.
The findings provide a more detailed picture of productivity differences across regions and can help identify areas with comparatively stronger economic performance within the unincorporated sector.
Women play a significant role in the unincorporated workforce
The report highlights significant regional variations in female entrepreneurship and workforce participation.
The top 10 districts with the highest share of female-led unincorporated establishments are located in Telangana, Manipur and Meghalaya. Mizoram stands out, with female-owned proprietary establishments accounting for at least 50 per cent of establishments in every district of the state.
Women’s participation in the workforce also varies considerably across districts. The top 10 districts with the highest share of female workers are located in Telangana, Manipur, Meghalaya and Mizoram.
Across 237 districts, women account for at least one-third of the total workforce in the unincorporated sector. In 25 districts, female workers constitute more than 50 per cent of the workforce.
District-level concentration varies widely across states
The report also identifies the district contributing the highest number of unincorporated establishments within each of the 33 states and Union Territories covered.
Among the notable concentrations, South Andaman accounts for 61.04 per cent of establishments in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, while Dadra and Nagar Haveli accounts for 65.48 per cent in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
Puducherry accounts for 76.64 per cent of establishments in the Union Territory, while North Goa contributes 77.66 per cent of establishments in Goa.
Among larger states, Surat accounts for 19.43 per cent of Gujarat’s establishments, Rangareddy for 23.53 per cent of Telangana’s, Imphal West for 24.75 per cent of Manipur’s and East Khasi Hills for 26.85 per cent of Meghalaya’s.
Other leading districts include Pune in Maharashtra with 9.14 per cent, Bengaluru Urban in Karnataka with 12.83 per cent, Chennai in Tamil Nadu with 7.13 per cent, Jaipur in Rajasthan with 11.70 per cent and Gurugram in Haryana with 9.96 per cent.
Survey covers manufacturing, trade and services
The ASUSE 2025 covers unincorporated non-agricultural establishments across manufacturing, trade and other services in rural and urban areas across India, with the exception of some inaccessible villages in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The survey covers establishments under proprietorship, partnership arrangements excluding Limited Liability Partnerships, cooperatives, societies, trusts and other forms of ownership within the unincorporated sector.
The survey followed a multi-stage stratified sampling scheme, with census villages serving as first-stage units in rural areas and Urban Frame Survey blocks in urban areas. Establishments were selected from listed establishments within the sampled areas.
Data were collected primarily through oral enquiry using a monthly reference period, with information captured through Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) on tablets.
Data to support more targeted policymaking
The release of district-level estimates is aimed at strengthening granular, sub-state-level statistics and supporting more targeted policy interventions.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has previously released a statistical profile of the unincorporated sector covering the country’s 46 million-plus cities, based on Census 2011 population. The latest district-level exercise takes the effort further by providing a wider geographical picture of the sector’s scale, structure and economic performance.
The NSO has cautioned that the district-level estimates are based on sample survey data and should be interpreted in light of differences in economic and demographic characteristics, industrial composition, local conditions and sampling variability. Relative Standard Errors (RSEs) have been provided to help users assess the statistical reliability of the estimates.
District-level estimates have not been presented separately for Delhi, as its districts were combined into a single stratum for sampling in both rural and urban areas due to the capital’s very small rural population and limited number of villages. Separate district-level estimates have also not been presented for Lakshadweep and Chandigarh, as each comprises only one district and their district-level estimates coincide with the respective Union Territory-level estimates already published in the ASUSE 2025 report.
