Publications (Volume I and Summary Results of Factory Sector) of Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) 2024-25 (Survey period: October 2025 to June 2026) November, 2026

1. At a Glance

• ASI is MoSPI's main source of industrial statistics on registered manufacturing. It tracks changes in the composition, growth and structure of manufacturing across output, value added, employment and capital formation [1].
• ASI data feed National Accounts Statistics at the national and state level, so they shape GDP and GSDP estimates for manufacturing [1].
• The ASI 2024-25 publications cover the reference year April 2024 to March 2025. They follow the factsheet released on 30 September 2026 [1].
• UPSC relevance: industrial structure, regional concentration, capital-intensity versus labour absorption, and the statistical system (GS-III, Indian Economy). Headline numbers and coverage rules are standard Prelims material.

2. Why in the News

• On 04 Nov 2026, MoSPI released the Volume I, Summary Results of Factory Sector and unit-level data for ASI 2024-25. Fieldwork (the survey period) ran from October 2025 to June 2026 [1].
• Before this, the ASI 2024-25 results/factsheet came out on 30 Sep 2026 with the headline growth figures [1][2][4].

3. Background & Evolution

• Predecessors: the Census of Manufacturing Industries (CMI) and the Sample Survey of Manufacturing Industries (SSMI). The SSMI ran annually until 1958 [6].
• Origin: the Collection of Statistics (Central) Rules, 1959, framed under the Collection of Statistics Act, 1953, provided for a comprehensive ASI that replaced both the CMI and the SSMI [6].
• Launch: ASI was launched in 1960 with 1959 as the reference year, and it has run every year since [6].
• Coverage shift: because ASI uses the Factories Act, 1948 definition, its coverage was wider than the CMI and SSMI combined [6].
• Current legal basis: the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008 (amended 2017) and the Rules of 2011 [1][7].
• Digitisation: data are now collected only through a web portal, with no paper schedule [1].

4. Core Static Facts

Key numbers for ASI 2024-25 (growth over the previous year)

Concentration by industry and State

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Economic

• Growth was recorded across all major indicators, which points to a broad-based expansion of registered manufacturing [2][3].
• Invested capital (+11.10%) and fixed capital (+10.54%) grew faster than output (+7.81%). This suggests capital deepening is under way [2][3].
• Emoluments (+12.08%) grew faster than persons engaged (+7.19%), which indicates rising pay per worker [2][3].

Structural / Industrial organisation

• Dualism: 78.69% of factories hold only 10.55% of fixed capital. Small units are numerous but contribute little output, while large units dominate capital and value added [1].
• The size-of-output classification shows the same pattern: a few high-output factories hold most of the fixed capital, employment and output, and the smallest output class is almost entirely marginal [1].

Regional / Federal

• More than 54% of GVA comes from five States, which raises concerns about regional imbalance in industrialisation [1].
• The GVA ranking differs from the employment ranking: Karnataka is in the GVA top five, while Haryana is in the employment top five. This difference reflects capital-intensive versus labour-intensive State profiles [2][3].

Governance / Statistical system

• The publications cover the year that ended in March 2025, and Volume I came out in November 2026, a lag of about 19 months. The factsheet came out roughly 6 weeks earlier [1].
• Releasing unit-level data improves transparency and supports research use [1].
• The web-portal-only collection makes data digital and uniform across States [1].

Administrative

• The sampling frame depends on State Chief Inspectors of Factories, so its quality depends on how well States maintain their registration lists [1].
• ASI uses the establishment approach, not the enterprise approach. Because a consolidated return is allowed, multi-unit firms can file a combined return for the same State and industry group [1].

6. Recent Developments (last 12-18 months)

• Oct 2025 to Jun 2026: ASI 2024-25 fieldwork was carried out [1].
• 30 Sep 2026: the ASI 2024-25 factsheet and results press note were released, including GVA growth of 9.59% and 2,66,931 factories [1][2][3][4].
• 04 Nov 2026: Volume I, the Summary Results of Factory Sector and unit-level data were released [1].

7. Prelims Hooks

• ASI is conducted by MoSPI, and field data are collected by the NSO [1].
• It is conducted under the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008 (amended 2017) [1][7].
• Core coverage is factories under Sections 2m(i) and 2m(ii) of the Factories Act, 1948 [1][6].
• The threshold is 10 or more workers with power or 20 or more without power [6].
• The sampling frame is kept by the State Chief Inspector of Factories [1].
• ASI follows the establishment approach, not the enterprise approach [1].
• Results are classified by NIC 2008: 4-digit for all-India, but only up to 3-digit for States [1].
• ASI replaced the CMI and SSMI and was launched in 1960 with reference year 1959 [6].
• The ASI 2024-25 reference period is April 2024 to March 2025, and the survey period is October 2025 to June 2026 [1].
• There were 2,66,931 factories in 2024-25 [2][3].
• GVA of all factories grew 9.59% [2][3].
• Maharashtra ranks first in manufacturing GVA. Tamil Nadu ranks first in manufacturing employment [2][3].
• Invested capital is fixed capital plus physical working capital [1].
• Size-of-capital classes are based on the gross value of plant and machinery, not on employment [1].
• Railway workshops, Govt. Mints and defence establishments are excluded from ASI [6].

8. What the 9.59% Growth Number Does Not Tell You

• The 9.59% includes price rise
• ASI reports growth at current prices. Current prices means the money value in that year, with inflation (the general rise in prices) still included [8].
• So 9.59% is not the same as 9.59% more goods made. Some of it is just higher prices.

• In an answer, write "nominal GVA (GVA before removing inflation) grew 9.59%", not "manufacturing grew 9.59%".

• Most of the GVA growth came from adding people, not from each person producing more

• GVA grew 9.59% and persons engaged grew 7.19% [2][3].
• That means GVA per person rose only about 2.2%. This is our own calculation from these two figures, and it is still before inflation is removed.

• Labour productivity (value added per person) is the real test of competitiveness. It barely moved this year.

• Inputs became cheaper than outputs

• Output grew 7.81%, but GVA grew faster, at 9.59% [2][3].
• GVA is output minus inputs (raw materials, fuel, parts) [8]. GVA can grow faster than output only if inputs grew more slowly than output.
• So part of the jump in value added came from cheaper inputs. It did not all come from factories doing more.

9. Capital per Worker Barely Rose

• Fixed capital grew fast, but so did the workforce
• The note reads fixed capital growth (+10.54%) as a sign of capital deepening (each worker getting more machines and equipment).
• The factsheet shows fixed capital per person engaged went from ₹23.61 lakh to ₹24.34 lakh. That is only about 3% [4].

• The capital growth was spread over many more workers, so each worker got only a little more.

• Factories are getting bigger, not just more capital-heavy

• Fixed capital per factory in operation rose from ₹2,171 lakh to ₹2,339 lakh [4].
• Persons engaged per factory rose from 92 to 96, and workers per factory from 73 to 76 [4].

• So the average factory added both machines and people. For a labour-surplus country this is the better kind of investment, because it does not replace workers.

• Why it matters for Mains

• The usual worry is that Indian manufacturing uses more machines and fewer people. This year's data do not show that.
• Use the per-person figure [4], not the total capital figure, when you argue about capital intensity (how much capital is used for each worker).

10. Workers Got a Bigger Slice of Value Added

• Pay per person rose faster than value added per person
• Emoluments (total wages, salaries and benefits) grew 12.08% while persons engaged grew 7.19% [2][3].
• So pay per person rose about 4.6%. GVA per person rose only about 2.2%. (Both are our calculations, before removing inflation.)

• When pay grows faster than value added, the workers' share of GVA goes up and the share left for profits, interest and rent goes down.

• Two ways to read this

• Good reading: a tight labour market is pushing wages up, and workers gain from growth.
• Worry: if productivity stays at about 2% a year while pay rises 4–5%, profit margins shrink. That can slow future investment.
• Part of the pay rise is only inflation, so the real gain per worker is smaller than 4.6%.

11. How This Year Compares With 2023-24

• GVA growth slowed, job growth picked up
• 2023-24: GVA +11.89%, employment +5.92%, output a little over +5.80% [8].
• 2024-25: GVA +9.59%, persons engaged +7.19%, output +7.81% [2][3].

• Value-added growth slowed, but the sector added jobs faster. One year is not a trend, but it goes against the simple "jobless growth" story.

• The factory count grows slowly. Jobs are coming from bigger units

• Factories rose from 2,60,061 to 2,66,931 [8][2]. That is +2.64%.

• Jobs grew almost three times as fast as the number of factories. Most new jobs came from existing factories growing, not from new factories opening.

• The top industries are the same, but their order changed

• In 2023-24 the order was basic metals, motor vehicles, chemicals, food products, pharmaceuticals [8].
• In 2024-25, pharmaceuticals moved above food products [2][3].
• The same capital-heavy group still leads, so this is not a structural shift.

12. The Bigger Part of Manufacturing That ASI Never Counts

• Informal units employ more people than all registered factories
• ASUSE (MoSPI's survey of unincorporated enterprises, meaning small units not registered as companies) found about 3.4 crore manufacturing workers in October 2023 to September 2024 [10].
• ASI counts about 2.10 crore persons engaged in registered factories [2][3].

• So ASI alone describes the smaller part of the manufacturing workforce.

• The two surveys cannot simply be added

• ASI uses April to March. ASUSE 2023-24 used October to September [1][10].
• ASI counts establishments (single units) registered under the Factories Act. ASUSE covers unincorporated establishments [1][10].

• A unit that grows past the factory size limit should move from ASUSE to ASI. Overlaps and gaps along this line are not reported in either release.

• The informal side is growing fast too

• Manufacturing workers in ASUSE grew about 10% between 2022-23 and 2023-24 [10].
• Average emoluments in ASUSE manufacturing rose 16.10% [11].
• A Mains answer on manufacturing jobs that uses ASI alone leaves out most of the story.

13. Why the Labour Codes Could Break the ASI Series

• The definition of "factory" is changing
• ASI's core coverage is defined by the Factories Act, 1948: 10 or more workers with power, or 20 or more without power [1][6].
• The OSH Code, 2020 (Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code) raises this to 20 workers with power and 40 without power [9].

• Units with 10–19 workers (with power) would no longer be "factories". They could drop off the State lists that form ASI's sampling frame (the list from which the sample is drawn) [1].

• The effect will look like decline but is really a change in definition

• If small units leave the frame, the factory count and employment will fall in the data even if nothing changed on the ground.

• Average size and capital per factory will appear to jump for the same reason.

• States can follow different thresholds

• The Code lets a State's existing threshold continue until that State's legislature changes it [9].
• Rajasthan had already raised its Factories Act threshold from 10 to 20 workers (with power) and from 20 to 40 (without power) [9].

• So "a factory" may not mean the same thing in every State. That weakens State-to-State comparisons of GVA and employment.

• What MoSPI should do

• The NSO (National Statistics Office) should keep collecting from units of 10 or more workers using its own frame, and not depend only on the State factory lists.
• For at least one transition year, it should publish ASI on both the old and the new definition, so that the break can be measured.
• Units that leave ASI should be tracked through ASUSE, which already covers units outside the factory list [10]. That way no part of manufacturing goes uncounted.

14. Anchors for Answers

• Data: Fixed capital per person engaged rose only from ₹23.61 lakh to ₹24.34 lakh (about 3%) in 2024-25, even though total fixed capital grew 10.54% [4][2]
• Data: Persons engaged per factory rose from 92 to 96. Fixed capital per factory rose from ₹2,171 lakh to ₹2,339 lakh [4]
• Data: 2023-24 benchmark: GVA +11.89%, employment +5.92%. Growth figures are at current prices [8]
• Data: About 3.4 crore workers in unincorporated manufacturing (ASUSE, October 2023 to September 2024), against about 2.10 crore in ASI factories [10][2]
• Law/Case: Factories Act, 1948, Sections 2m(i)/(ii) (10/20 workers) is the basis of ASI coverage. OSH Code, 2020 raises the threshold to 20/40 workers and lets existing State thresholds continue [1][9]
• Law/Case: Collection of Statistics Act, 2008 (amended 2017) is the legal basis of ASI [1][7]

15. Mains Relevance

• GS-III: Indian Economy (growth, development, employment); industrial policy and changes in industrial structure; inclusive growth.
• GS-II (peripheral): Government policies; transparency in governance through open data.
• Plausible questions: 1. ASI 2024-25 reveals rising capital intensity alongside employment growth in registered manufacturing. Examine whether Indian manufacturing is becoming more labour-absorbing. (250 words) 2. The concentration of manufacturing GVA in a handful of States poses challenges to balanced regional development. Discuss with reference to recent ASI data. (150 words) 3. Discuss the significance of the Annual Survey of Industries for national accounts and evidence-based industrial policy. What are its limitations in capturing the informal sector? (250 words)

16. Related Topics to Study Next

• Index of Industrial Production (IIP): a monthly short-term indicator, compared with ASI's annual structural survey.
• ASUSE (Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises): covers the unorganised sector that ASI leaves out.
• PLI schemes: link to the industries that dominate GVA (motor vehicles, pharmaceuticals, electronics).
• Labour Codes (OSH Code, 2020): these will replace the Factories Act, 1948 and change the definition of "factory", which is the basis of ASI coverage.
• MSME classification (investment plus turnover): compare with ASI's plant-and-machinery size classes.
• GDP base revision and National Accounts: ASI is a key input to manufacturing GVA.
• NSO restructuring and the National Statistical Commission: institutional context for ASI.
• PLFS: cross-check employment trends between household and establishment surveys.

17. NCERT Concepts to Revise

• Gross Value Added (Economy): GVA growth of 9.59% is the headline ASI figure and drives manufacturing's share in national accounts.
• Current prices (Economy): ASI growth is reported at current prices, so it mixes real output growth with price rises.
• Capital deepening (Economy): The note debates whether faster capital growth means more capital per worker, which the per-person data challenge.
• Sampling frame (Economy): ASI draws its sample from State factory lists, so frame quality and the Labour Code definition change affect the data.
• Unorganised sector (Economy): ASI misses informal units, which employ more manufacturing workers than registered factories, so it understates manufacturing employment.
• Jobless growth (Economy): Employment growth alongside GVA growth is used to test the idea that Indian manufacturing growth creates few jobs.

18. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• Reference year versus survey period: ASI 2024-25 refers to FY 2024-25 (April 2024 to March 2025), not the October 2025 to June 2026 fieldwork window [1].
• 9.59% versus 9.28%: 9.59% is GVA growth for all factories, while 9.28% is GVA growth for the Manufacturing Corporate sector [1][2].
• More than 45% versus more than 41%: the top-five industries' share is more than 45% of GVA but more than 41% of employment. Similarly, the top-five States' share is more than 54% of GVA but more than 56% of employment, and the two State lists differ [1][2].
• Legal basis: older MoSPI material cites the Collection of Statistics Act, 1953. The current basis is the 2008 Act, amended 2017 [6][7].
• Establishment versus enterprise: ASI does not survey enterprises or firms. Its classification is based on plant and machinery, not on the MSME investment-plus-turnover criteria [1].
• Coverage: ASI is not a survey of all manufacturing. Unregistered and informal units fall outside it [6].