Snapshot: NSO disseminates district-level estimates from a large-scale, nation-wide enterprise survey for the first time, marking a significant step towards strengthening granular sub-state-level statistics in India. The top 50 districts, ranked by the number of unincorporated establishments, account for nearly one-third of the total establishments, workforce and Gross Value Added. Roughly one-third of all districts have more than one lakh unincorporated establishments per district. In 237 districts, women constitute one-third of the total workforce in the unincorporated sector. In 280 districts, GVA per worker exceeds the all-India average indicating relatively higher levels of economic productivity in these districts.

NSO Releases insights on urban unincorporated enterprise landscape at district level

The importance of granular and high-frequency data has grown significantly in recent years, reflecting the increasing need for evidence-based policymaking and targeted interventions. In particular, sub-state-level statistics play a crucial role in identifying regional variations, emerging strengths and areas requiring attention, thereby enabling more targeted and area-specific policy interventions.

As part of this endeavour, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has already published, for the first time, a comprehensive statistical profile of the unincorporated sector across the country’s 46 million-plus cities, identified on the basis of Census 2011 population. Taking this initiative further, MoSPI has now presented a district-level portrait of the scale, structure and economic performance of India’s unincorporated non-agricultural sector across States and Union Territories (UTs). The district-level estimates presented in this report also include the corresponding estimates for million-plus cities located within the respective districts. This marks the first initiative of the National Statistics Office (NSO), MoSPI, to disseminate district-level estimates from a large-scale, nationwide survey. The report is available on the website of the Ministry at https://mospi.gov.in.

Unincorporated Sector at the District Level: Insights from ASUSE 2025

Drawing upon ASUSE 2025 data, this report presents a comprehensive picture of the unincorporated sector at the district level through a balanced set of indicators covering the scale and structure of establishments, employment and emoluments, and economic performance. These include estimates of establishments and workers, ownership and employment structure, women’s participation, registration status, emoluments per hired worker, and GVA per establishment and GVA per worker for market establishments. Estimates of these indicators are given for 757 out of 770 districts available in the sampling frame during sample selection of ASUSE 2025 offering granular district-level insights based on nationally representative survey data. However, the geographical coverage of some districts and number of districts may differ from the current administrative configuration due to subsequent changes in district boundaries, names and/or the creation of new districts.

As Lakshadweep and Chandigarh each comprise only one district, the district-level estimates for these UTs coincide with their respective UT-level estimates and already published in the ASUSE 2025 report. Accordingly, separate district-level estimates are not presented for Lakshadweep and Chandigarh in this report. Additionally, owing to the very small rural population and the limited number of villages in Delhi, all districts were combined into a single stratum for the rural sector, from which the sample FSUs were selected. A similar approach was adopted for the urban sector. Accordingly, district-level estimates for Delhi could not be generated and, therefore, are not presented in this Report.

A brief overview of the coverage, sampling methodology, and data collection mechanism of ASUSE 2025 are provided in the Endnote.

Insight from Unincorporated Enterprise Landscape

Geographical concentration and district-level dynamics of the unincorporated sector

The unincorporated non-agricultural sector exhibits a notable concentration of economic activity across districts. The top 10 districts, ranked by the estimated number of unincorporated establishments, together account for about one-tenth of the total establishments, workers and Gross Value Added (GVA) generated by the sector while the top 50 districts capture nearly one-third of the total establishments, workforce and GVA.

The top 10 districts are spread across four States: Gujarat, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, while the top 50 districts are spread across twelve states viz. Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The district-level distribution further reveals considerable variation in the scale of the unincorporated sector across the country. Roughly one-third of all districts have more than one lakh unincorporated establishments per district, while about 9% of the districts have fewer than 10,000 establishments per district. Only 16 districts (eight from West Bengal, three from Maharashtra, two from Gujarat, one each from Karnataka, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh) have more than 5 lakh unincorporated establishments per district.

Productivity performance across districts

District-level estimates also highlight variations in the productivity performance of the unincorporated sector. In about 331 districts, GVA per worker is estimated to be between ₹1 lakh and ₹1.5 lakh. In 280 districts, GVA per worker exceeds the all-India average (Rs. 1,56,539) indicating relatively higher levels of economic productivity in these districts.

District-level landscape of female entrepreneurship

The district-level estimates reveal significant regional patterns in female entrepreneurship. The top 10 districts with the highest share of female-led unincorporated establishments are located in Telangana, Manipur and Meghalaya. In Mizoram, female-owned proprietary establishments account for at least 50 per cent of establishments in each district of the State.

A similar pattern is observed in the participation of women in the workforce. Top ten districts with the highest share of female workers are located in Telangana, Manipur, Meghalaya and Mizoram, reflecting the significant role played by women in the unincorporated sector in these states. In as many as 237 districts, women constitute one-third of the total workforce in the unincorporated sector whereas in 25 districts the female workers constitute more than 50% of the workforce.

Table 1 presents the top contributing district within each of the 33 State/UT with their corresponding percentage contribution in total unincorporated business units within the state/UT.

State	District within the state with highest number of estimated establishments	Percentage Contribution within State/UT	State	District with Highest number of estimated establishment	Percentage Contribution within State/UT
Andaman & Nicobar Islands	South Andaman	61.04	Maharashtra	Pune	9.14
Andhra Pradesh	Prakasam	5.61	Manipur	Imphal West	24.75
Arunachal Pradesh	Papum Pare	24.57	Meghalaya	East Khasi Hills	26.85
Assam	Dhubri	8.14	Mizoram	Aizwal	31.49
Bihar	Patna	8.23	Nagaland	Kohima	17.54
Chhattisgarh	Durg	11.08	Odisha	Mayurbhanj	10.65
Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu	Dadra & Nagar Haveli	65.48	Puducherry	Puducherry	76.64
Goa	North Goa	77.66	Punjab	Ludhiana	14.74
Gujarat	Surat	19.43	Rajasthan	Jaipur	11.70
Haryana	Gurugram	9.96	Sikkim	Gangtok	27.97
Himachal Pradesh	Kangra	19.02	Tamil Nadu	Chennai	7.13
Jammu & Kashmir	Srinagar	18.49	Telangana	Rangareddy	23.53
Jharkhand	Giridih	10.70	Tripura	West Tripura	32.66
Karnataka	Bengaluru (Urban)	12.83	Uttar Pradesh	Prayagraj	5.77
Kerala	Thiruvananthapuram	12.38	Uttarakhand	Udham Singh Nagar	23.03
Ladakh	Leh	59.00	West Bengal	North Twenty- Four Parganas	15.99
Madhya Pradesh	Jabalpur	6.03

A brief about the coverage, sampling scheme, and data collection mechanism in the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE):

A. Coverage:

A.1. Geographically, the survey covers the rural and urban areas of whole of India (except some of the villages in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which are difficult to access).

A.2. Sector-wise, this survey captures unincorporated non-agricultural establishments belonging to three sectors viz., Manufacturing, Trade and Other Services.

A.3. Ownership-wise, unincorporated non-agricultural establishments pertaining to proprietorship, partnership (excluding Limited Liability Partnerships), co-operatives, societies/trusts etc. have been covered in this survey.

B. Sampling Scheme:

The survey has been conducted following a multi-stage stratified sampling scheme, where first stage units (FSUs) are census villages in rural area (except for rural Kerala, where Panchayat wards have been taken as FSUs) and UFS (Urban Frame Survey) blocks in urban areas which are updated periodically. The ultimate stage units (USUs) are establishments for both the sectors. In the case of large FSUs, one intermediate stage of sampling has been done in the form of hamlet groups in rural and sub-blocks in urban.

Due to very small population size and very few villages in rural sector of Delhi, all the districts in Delhi were merged into one stratum only and sample FSUs in rural areas were selected from that stratum. In urban areas also, same treatment was given. Hence, for Delhi, district level estimates cannot be generated and presented in this Report.

D. Data Collection Mechanism:

The survey has been conducted based on area frame and establishments have been listed in the selected FSUs of both rural and urban sector and from the listed establishments in the FSUs, requisite number of establishments were surveyed as per the sampling design. Mostly, data were collected from the selected establishments through oral enquiry pertaining to the ‘monthly’ reference period. The data for the survey were collected in Tablet using Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI).

E. Note to users and caveats:

The district-level estimates are based on sample survey data and should be interpreted taking into account the differences across regions arising out of underlying economic and demographic characteristics, variations in industrial composition, local conditions, and sampling variability. To facilitate informed use of the estimates, measures of statistical reliability, in terms of Relative Standard Errors (RSEs) has been provided. In some cases, the Relative Standard Errors (RSEs) presented in this report are high and such cases may be duly considered while drawing inferences.

The report on Unincorporated Sector at the District Level: Insights from ASUSE 2025 is available on the website of the ministry (https://www.mospi.gov.in). Scan the QR code to access the Publications/Reports.

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