Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Maharashtra emerged as the states with the highest share of informal sector enterprises in both rural and urban areas during the 2022-23 fiscal year, according to the latest Annual Survey of Unincorporated Enterprises released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
Despite a general post-pandemic decrease in informal sector enterprises in states such as Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh saw a notable increase. Uttar Pradesh's share of unincorporated non-agricultural enterprises rose to 13.83 per cent in 2022-23, up from 12.99 per cent the previous year. West Bengal, ranking second, experienced a slight dip to 12.04 per cent from 12.31 per cent in 2021-22, while Maharashtra's share grew to 9.37 per cent from 8.81 per cent.
Comparative data from the National Sample Survey's 73rd round on Unincorporated Enterprises (2015-16) highlighted a decline in workers employed in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal in 2022-23. However, the share of informal sector workers increased in most states in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic compared to 2021-22.
In Uttar Pradesh, the number of informal sector workers fell to 1.57 crore in 2022-23 from 1.65 crore in 2015-16 but rose from 1.30 crore in 2021-22. Similarly, West Bengal saw a decline to 1.05 crore workers in 2022-23 from 1.35 crore in 2015-16, though the number increased slightly from 1.02 crore in 2021-22. Maharashtra, in contrast, recorded a steady rise, with informal sector workers increasing to 1.15 crore in 2022-23 from 91.23 lakh in 2015-16 and 98.81 lakh in 2021-22.
The survey also revealed that states like Uttarakhand, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, and Jammu & Kashmir had the lowest share of informal sector enterprises. Notably, Delhi experienced a significant rise, with its share of informal sector enterprises jumping to 1.43 per cent in 2022-23 from 0.64 per cent the previous year.
The data from these unincorporated sector enterprises is crucial as the informal sector plays a significant role in employment generation and labour force absorption, especially during formal sector slowdowns.
