New Delhi – India's Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) has proposed significant overhauls to the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE), set to take effect from the financial year 2027-28. These five key changes aim to provide a more comprehensive and granular understanding of the nation's informal sector, which contributes an estimated 45% to the Indian economy.
The modifications, stemming from internal discussions and stakeholder suggestions, are designed to enhance data availability for economic analysis, policy formulation, and national accounting. They will capture new dimensions of informal business operations, from investment trends to specific challenges faced by women entrepreneurs.
Key Changes to the ASUSE from FY2028
The upcoming ASUSE 2027-28 will incorporate the following five crucial changes:
1. Alignment with Financial Year
For the first time, the ASUSE will align its survey period with the financial year, running from April 2027 to March 2028. This move synchronizes the exercise with other major enterprise surveys, such as the Annual Survey of Industries, ensuring consistency in data collection periods across different economic sectors.
2. Data on Women Entrepreneurs
The revised survey will introduce specific questions designed to uncover gender-specific constraints encountered by female entrepreneurs. MOSPI stated that these questions aim to improve information on the challenges women face in operating and managing unincorporated establishments, providing an evidence base for policy interventions supporting female-led enterprises.
3. Comprehensive Energy Use Patterns
New questions will be added to identify the various sources of electricity utilized by informal sector establishments. This will offer a more complete picture of energy consumption patterns within the unincorporated sector, crucial for understanding operational costs and environmental impact.
4. Extended Fixed Asset Investment Tracking
The survey will now include a question to capture investment in fixed assets over a longer reference period than previously covered. This broader perspective on investment trajectory will provide additional insights into the investment behavior and business outlook of establishments, extending beyond the immediate survey period.
5. Identification of Handloom, Power-loom, and Handicraft Establishments
Responding to a request from the Ministry of Textiles, two new questions will be incorporated to specifically identify establishments engaged in handloom, power-loom, and handicraft activities. This will facilitate better categorization and understanding of these traditional and significant segments within the informal sector.
These changes underscore the government's commitment to refining its economic data collection, particularly for the vast and diverse informal sector, enabling more targeted and effective policy interventions.