Women's Participation Surges in India's Informal Manufacturing Sector, ASUSE Data Reveals

Women's Role in India's Informal Sector Continues to Grow

The latest Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has revealed a significant increase in women's participation in India's informal sector, particularly in manufacturing enterprises.

According to the survey, women constituted 48.3 percent of workers in unincorporated manufacturing enterprises in 2025, while their representation as heads of establishments was significantly higher at 60.4 percent. This suggests a growing role for women in ownership and management, with the proportion of women-led manufacturing firms rising from 58 percent in 2024 to nearly 60 percent in 2025.

The findings also highlight the employment impact of female-led firms, with nearly 72% of female-led hired-worker establishments engaging at least one female hired worker, thereby generating employment opportunities for women. This trend suggests that women are not only emerging as participants in informal manufacturing but also as entrepreneurs and employers driving workforce inclusion.

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In contrast, informal trade establishments remained more male-dominated, with only 13.1 percent of informal trade enterprises headed by women in 2025, down from 13.7 percent a year earlier. Women accounted for just 18.2 percent of workers in the sector, far below their share in manufacturing.

The survey also pointed to rising digital adoption among informal businesses, with internet usage for entrepreneurial purposes increasing across sectors in 2025 compared with the previous year. Trade establishments emerged as the most digitally active segment, with more than half using the internet for business purposes, compared with 39.4 percent across the informal sector overall.

However, the divergence between manufacturing and trade highlights the uneven nature of women's participation in India's informal economy. While informal manufacturing is moving closer to gender parity at the workforce level and showing stronger female leadership, barriers to female entrepreneurship and employment continue to remain more entrenched in trade-related activities.

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