The report draws upon data from the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE). This marks the first initiative of the NSO to disseminate district-level estimates from a large-scale, nationwide survey.
The report covers 757 out of 770 districts. Establishments in the unincorporated non-agricultural sector refer to small, informal businesses or enterprises outside the farming sector that are not registered under any law, such as the Companies Act.
District Concentration
According to the report, 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. Meanwhile, 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: Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.Roughly one-third of all districts have more than one lakh unincorporated establishments per district, while about 9 per cent of the districts have fewer than 10,000 establishments. Only 16 districts (from West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh) have more than 5 lakh unincorporated establishments each. District-level estimates also highlight variations in the productivity performance of the unincorporated sector.
In approximately 331 districts, the GVA per worker is estimated to be between ₹1 lakh and ₹1.5 lakh. In 280 districts, the GVA per worker exceeds the all-India average (₹1,56,539), indicating relatively higher levels of economic productivity in these districts.
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.The top ten districts with the highest share of female workers are 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, female workers make up more than 50 per cent of the workforce.
According to Geeta Singh Rathore, Director General of the National Sample Survey, the present report provides a balanced set of operational and economic indicators covering the size of the sector, employment characteristics, enterprise profiles, and selected measures of economic performance for the districts. The estimates are presented for the districts, with rural and urban sectors combined.
Published on September 10, 2026
