The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released city-level ASUSE 2025 estimates for 46 million-plus cities. Accounting for 13% of India's unincorporated establishments, these urban centers produce 21% of the sector's Gross Value Added, revealing key productivity, sectoral structure, and female ownership differences across Indian cities.
NEW DELHI — India’s 46 million-plus cities account for approximately 13% of the nation’s unincorporated non-agricultural enterprises while driving nearly 21% of the sector's total Gross Value Added (GVA), according to new city-level data from the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) 2025. The findings, released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), mark the first time official statistical estimates have been granularly published for million-plus urban centers.
The ASUSE 2025 report reveals that nationwide, the unincorporated non-agricultural sector comprises 7.92 crore establishments employing nearly 12.8 crore workers. The newly published city-level breakdown establishes that urban concentration and output vary significantly across regions, offering crucial evidence for local economic planning, infrastructure investments, and labor market policies.
Kolkata, Mumbai, and Hyderabad Lead Enterprise Concentration
According to the official dataset, just six urban centers—Kolkata, Surat, Greater Hyderabad, Delhi, Ahmedabad, and Greater Mumbai—account for roughly 40% of all unincorporated establishments operating across the 46 surveyed million-plus cities.
However, the survey highlights a major structural finding: high enterprise density does not automatically translate into higher per-unit productivity.
Kolkata holds the largest concentration of unincorporated businesses among all 46 cities, with an estimated 8.84 lakh establishments. Its productivity stands at a GVA per establishment of Rs 291,107.
Greater Hyderabad demonstrates both significant scale and elevated productivity, recording 6.08 lakh establishments and a GVA per establishment of Rs 714,113.
Pune maintains 2.44 lakh establishments, generating a GVA per establishment of Rs 461,116.
MoSPI notes that because these figures represent independent city-level sampling strata, variations remain subject to sampling parameters but clearly map the operational landscape of India’s urban informal and small-business economy.
Structural Differences Across Manufacturing, Trade, and Services
The report underlines stark differences in economic specialization across individual urban economies:
Manufacturing-Driven Hubs: Ludhiana leads in industrial orientation, with nearly one-third of its unincorporated units engaged in manufacturing. Industrial centers such as Coimbatore and Ahmedabad also demonstrate strong manufacturing footprints, pointing to an ongoing need for targeted cluster upgrading, tech adoption, and production network support.
Services-Heavy Metros: Bengaluru, Faridabad, and Nagpur are predominantly service-oriented, requiring municipal and central policies tailored toward digital integration, skills development, and market access.
Commercial and Trade Nodes: Cities like Srinagar and Vijayawada focus heavily on trade, logistics, and local market distribution, where productivity relies on credit availability, storage facilities, and transport connections.
Employment Scales and Women’s Enterprise Ownership
Proprietary and partnership arrangements make up 95% to 100% of all unincorporated businesses in most urban centers. However, the willingness or capacity to expand beyond owner-operated setups varies sharply. In Srinagar and Delhi, over 40% of establishments hire outside workers, indicating higher business expansion. Conversely, in Gwalior, fewer than 8% employ hired workers, leaving the majority within subsistence-level, single-owner operations.
Gender participation in business ownership also exhibits steep geographic divergence. Female-owned proprietary enterprises reach nearly 40% in several western hubs, including Surat, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nagpur, Navi Mumbai, and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. In contrast, female ownership falls below 10% in Srinagar and hovers between 12% and 13% in Patna and Varanasi.
Policymakers at the Ministry of Finance and regional urban planning departments can utilize these localized insights to address regional labor disparities and design targeted economic interventions.
Official Statements
"The latest city-level estimates based on ASUSE 2025 provide separate data for 46 million-plus cities, offering a more granular view of how small enterprises are distributed across urban India," stated economists Amit Kapoor and Sai Sruti Panda in their analysis published in The Sunday Guardian.
Researchers noted that because cities were sampled as independent strata, ASUSE 2025 gives policymakers a grounded dataset to build urban productivity frameworks beyond traditional infrastructure spending.
Why It Matters
The ASUSE 2025 urban breakdown marks a fundamental shift from state and national aggregates to city-level data collection. Municipal governments, financial institutions, and urban planners can now evaluate local credit access, worker hired-labor ratios, gender equality in ownership, and sector specialization to spur targeted productivity across India's fastest-growing economic engines.
Key Facts at a Glance
Total Scale: India’s national unincorporated non-agricultural sector comprises 7.92 crore establishments and 12.8 crore workers.
Urban Output: 46 million-plus cities house 13% of these enterprises but produce 21% of the sector's total Gross Value Added (GVA).
Concentration: Six major urban areas (Kolkata, Surat, Greater Hyderabad, Delhi, Ahmedabad, and Greater Mumbai) account for roughly 40% of all establishments in million-plus cities.
Productivity Gap: Kolkata leads in total business count (8.84 lakh units), while Greater Hyderabad records higher productivity per unit (Rs 714,113 GVA).
Female Ownership: Reaches up to 40% in key western urban centers of Gujarat and Maharashtra, compared to under 10% in cities like Srinagar.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the ASUSE 2025 report?
The Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) 2025 is a statistical report published by MoSPI that tracks non-agricultural unincorporated units across India, including a city-level breakdown for 46 million-plus cities.
How much do million-plus cities contribute to the unincorporated sector's GVA?
India’s 46 million-plus cities generate nearly 21% of the total Gross Value Added (GVA) produced by the unincorporated non-agricultural sector.
Which city has the highest number of unincorporated establishments?
Among million-plus cities, Kolkata holds the highest estimated number of unincorporated establishments at approximately 8.84 lakh units.
How does enterprise ownership vary by gender across Indian cities?
Female-owned proprietary businesses account for nearly 40% of units in several cities across Maharashtra and Gujarat, whereas cities like Srinagar, Patna, and Varanasi report female ownership rates ranging between 10% and 13%.
Source: Official ASUSE 2025 dataset released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI); analytical review published in The Sunday Guardian on August 9, 2026.
