Overview of Industries in India
India is one of the top 10 industrial nations of the world and its high growth of industrial production has made a significant impact on the improvement of various indicators of industrial performance. India is now a leader among developing countries in some high energy-intensive segments.
In chemical products, basic metals, and textiles, the size of Indian manufacturing as a proportion of all developing countries put together is 22.2%, 25%, and 16.8 % respectively. In recent times there has been significant growth in the share of manufactured goods in India’s exports.
| Main Characteristics | 2019-20 |
| Factories | 246,504 |
| Fixed Capital (lakhs) | 364,135,165 |
| Productive Capital (lakhs) | 452,465,244 |
| Invested Capital (lakhs) | 497,362,352 |
| Workers | 13,058,156 |
| Total Persons Engaged | 16,624,291 |
| Wages to workers (in lakhs) | 22,890,520 |
(Value Figures in Rs. Lakh & Others in Number)
Source: Annual Survey of Industries 2019-20 by Ministry of Statistics
In 2019-20, the number of operating factories is reported highest in Tamil Nadu at 38,837 (15.84%) followed by Gujarat at 28,479 (11.32%) and Maharashtra at 25,610 (10.39%) Factories.
Gujarat’s share is the highest in respect of aggregates’ gross value of plant and machinery (22.35%), fixed capital (20.56%), invested capital (19.34%), input (18.59%), total output (18.14%), gross value added (15.85%) and net value added (15.69%).
Maharashtra occupies the first position by virtue of its contribution to working capital (15.30%) and total emoluments (16.85%). In terms of contribution to net value added, Gujarat is followed by Maharashtra (14.67%), Tamil Nadu (10.91%), Karnataka (7.25%), and Uttar Pradesh (5.97%) in that order.
Andhra Pradesh is in fourth place with 16924 factories closely followed by Uttar Pradesh with 16184 industrial units. The southern states of Telangana and Andhra are in sixth and seven places. It’s followed by the Small Northern states of Punjab and Haryana. At Number 10 is India’s Largest State Rajasthan with 9694 factories.
Lets us look at Indian States by Industrial units and Persons engaged
| # | States | Factories | Total Persons Engaged |
| 1 | Tamil Nadu | 38837 | 2663069 |
| 2 | Gujarat | 28479 | 2068743 |
| 3 | Maharashtra | 25610 | 2038255 |
| 4 | Andhra Pradesh | 16924 | 663574 |
| 5 | Uttar Pradesh | 16184 | 1130778 |
| 6 | Telangana | 15271 | 787105 |
| 7 | Karnataka | 14169 | 1081116 |
| 8 | Punjab | 13092 | 661932 |
| 9 | Haryana | 11252 | 1023667 |
| 10 | Rajasthan | 9694 | 598791 |
| 11 | West Bengal | 9650 | 736165 |
| 12 | Kerala | 7796 | 341411 |
| 13 | Assam | 5196 | 263106 |
| 14 | Madhya Pradesh | 4771 | 413475 |
| 15 | Chattisgarh | 3892 | 228927 |
| 16 | Bihar | 3429 | 128203 |
| 17 | Delhi | 3259 | 108232 |
| 18 | Odisha | 3079 | 281911 |
| 19 | Uttarakhand | 2969 | 437816 |
| 20 | Jharkhand | 2875 | 205976 |
| 21 | Himachal Pradesh | 2687 | 227975 |
| 22 | Daman & Diu | 1682 | 122078 |
| 23 | Dadra & N Haveli | 1355 | 132695 |
| 24 | Jammu & Kashmir * | 1022 | 66759 |
| 25 | Puducherry | 727 | 50958 |
| 26 | Goa | 711 | 74197 |
| 27 | Tripura | 657 | 24266 |
| 28 | Chandigarh | 250 | 10167 |
| 29 | Mizoram # | 215 | 1664 |
| 30 | Manipur | 204 | 6898 |
| 31 | Nagaland | 190 | 5361 |
| 32 | Meghalaya | 158 | 12904 |
| 33 | Arunachal Pradesh | 116 | 2581 |
| 34 | Sikkim | 84 | 23039 |
| 35 | A & N. Island | 15 | 286 |
| 36 | Ladakh * | 3 | 214 |
Source: Annual Survey of Industries 2019-20 by Ministry of Statistics
Industries by Sector
Out of 28 industries in terms of National Industrial Classification (NIC)-2008, the major five employment-providing industries were Food Products (11.10%), Textiles (9.80%), Wearing Apparel (7.58%), Basic Metals (7.25%), and Motor Vehicles, Trailers, and Semi-trailers (6.51%).
92.95% of the operating factories covered in ASI 2019-20 are engaged in selected manufacturing activities, 0.63% are engaged in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity, gas, water supply, etc., and the remaining 6.42% in ‘other’ activity including cotton ginning, cleaning and baling, extraction of salt and some repair services, etc.
| # | Description | Factories | Total Persons Engaged |
| 1 | Food Products | 39173 | 1,845,131 |
| 2 | Non-Metallic Mineral Products | 29643 | 1,054,127 |
| 3 | Textiles | 17996 | 1,629,101 |
| 4 | Fabricated Metal Products, Except Machinery And Equipment | 16955 | 705,038 |
| 5 | Rubber and Plastics Products | 14845 | 843,562 |
| 6 | Chemicals And Chemical Products | 13459 | 932,428 |
| 7 | Other Industries | 13423 | 515,834 |
| 8 | Machinery And Equipment | 13270 | 935,811 |
| 9 | Basic Metals | 12197 | 1,204,877 |
| 10 | Wearing Apparel | 11573 | 1,260,628 |
| 11 | Electrical Equipment | 7823 | 635,006 |
| 12 | Paper and Paper Products | 7481 | 323,629 |
| 13 | Motor Vehicles, Trailers, and Semi-Trailers | 6632 | 1,082,076 |
| 14 | Pharmaceuticals, Medicinal Chemicals, and Botanical Products | 5326 | 807,279 |
| 15 | Leather and Related Products | 4857 | 426,093 |
| 16 | Wood and Products of Wood and Cork, Except Furniture | 4571 | 95,269 |
| 17 | Printing and Reproduction of Recorded Media | 4314 | 153,914 |
| 18 | Other Manufacturing | 3716 | 435,986 |
| 19 | Cotton Ginning, Cleaning, and Bailing Seed Processing | 3639 | 67,981 |
| 20 | Tobacco Products | 3370 | 447,064 |
| 21 | Computer, Electronic, and Optical Products | 2419 | 283,470 |
| 22 | Beverages | 2311 | 187,494 |
| 23 | Other Transport Equipment | 2191 | 421,386 |
| 24 | Manufacture Of Furniture | 2041 | 86,844 |
| 25 | Coke and Refined Petroleum Products | 1646 | 155,030 |
| 26 | Repair and Installation Of Machinery And Equipment | 679 | 34,384 |
| 27 | Waste Collection, Treatment & Disposal | 510 | 211,24 |
| 28 | Publishing Activities | 304 | 23,431 |
| 29 | Salt Production | 142 | 10,292 |
Source: Annual Survey of Industries 2019-20 by Ministry of Statistics
Industries by GVA (Gross Value Added)
Top six industries in terms of their percentage share in aggregate GVA (gross value added) were Chemicals and Chemical Products, Basic Metals, Pharmaceuticals, Medicinal Chemical & Botanical Products, Food Products, Motor Vehicles, Trailers and Semi-Trailers, and Machinery and Equipment.
They contributed a total of 50.80% of aggregate GVA with individual shares of 11.17%, 10.14%, 8.24%, 7.85%, 7.25% and 6.16% respectively. The above six industries also accounted for 46.59% of aggregate fixed capital. Figure 5 shows the relative position of the major 10 industries in respect of their percentage shares in aggregate GVA.
| # | Description | Gross Value Added (lakhs) |
| 1 | Chemicals and Chemical Products | 16,588,800 |
| 2 | Basic Metals | 15,067,749 |
| 3 | Pharmaceuticals, Medicinal Chemicals, and Botanical Products | 12,238,228 |
| 4 | Food Products | 11,661,048 |
| 5 | Motor Vehicles, Trailers, and Semi-Trailers | 10,772,656 |
| 6 | Machinery And Equipment | 9,147,395 |
| 7 | Other Industries | 8,999,313 |
| 8 | Other Non-Metallic Mineral Products | 8,265,331 |
| 9 | Textiles | 7,403,754 |
| 10 | Rubber and Plastics Products | 6,784,187 |
| 11 | Electrical Equipment | 5,441,754 |
| 12 | Other Transport Equipment | 5,223,443 |
| 13 | Coke And Refined Petroleum Products | 4,880,847 |
| 14 | Fabricated Metal Products, Except Machinery And Equipment | 4,634,957 |
| 15 | Wearing Apparel | 4,080,616 |
| 16 | Computer, Electronic and Optical Products | 3,224,386 |
| 17 | Other Manufacturing | 2,698,116 |
| 18 | Paper and Paper Products | 2,559,016 |
| 19 | Beverages | 2,096,211 |
| 20 | Tobacco Products | 1,854,376 |
| 21 | Leather and Related Products | 1,360,485 |
| 22 | Printing and Reproduction Of Recorded Media | 1,208,090 |
| 23 | Manufacture Of Furniture | 533,740 |
| 24 | Wood and Products Of Wood And Cork, Except Furniture | 523,215 |
| 25 | Cotton Ginning, Cleaning and Bailing | 476,619 |
| 26 | Repair And Installation of Machinery And Equipment | 377,043 |
| 27 | Publishing Activities | 229,876 |
| 28 | Waste Collection, Treatment & Disposal Activities; Materials Recovery | 198,133 |
| 29 | Salt Production By Evaporation Of Sea Water Or Other Saline Waters | 45,126 |
| Total GVA in 2019-20 | 148,574,512 |
Source: Annual Survey of Industries 2019-20 by Ministry of Statistics
Definition of Factory
i. Wherein ten or more workers are working or were working on any day of the preceding twelve months, and in any part of which a manufacturing process is being carried on with the aid of power or is ordinarily so carried on, or,
ii. Wherein twenty or more workers are working or were working on any day of the preceding twelve months, and in any part of which a manufacturing process is being carried on without the aid of power or is ordinarily so carried on, but does not include a mine subject to the operation of the Mines Act, 1952, or a railway running shed.
Definition of the manufacturing process
Any process for
i. making, altering, ornamenting, finishing, packing, oiling, washing, cleaning, breaking up, demolishing or otherwise treating or adapting any article or substance with a view to its use, sale, transport, delivery or disposal; or,
ii. pumping oil, water or sewage; or,
iii. generating, transforming, or transmitting power; or,
iv. composing types for printing by letterpress, lithography, photogravure, or other similar process or book binding; or,
v. constructing, reconstructing, repairing, refitting, finishing, or breaking up ships or vessels;
or vi. preserving or storing any article in cold storage.