Why in News? The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) recently released the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) for 2022-23.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• What is the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI)?
• Manufacturing Sector in India
• Highlights of the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) for 2022-23 

What is the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI)?

• About:
  • ASI is the principal source of industrial statistics and data for organised manufacturing in India and is conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) under the MoSPI.
  • It has been conducted since 1959 under the Collection of Statistics Act 1953. Presently, the survey is being conducted under the Collection of Statistics Act 2008 as amended in 2017 and Rules framed there under in 2011.
• Objective: The Survey is designed to obtain comprehensive and detailed data -
  • Estimating the contribution of the registered manufacturing sector as a whole to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Country and also by type of industry,
  • Systematic studying the structure of the industries by type of industry,
  • Studying various factors influencing the industries for formulation of industrial policies.
• The survey covers:
  • Factories registered under the Factories Act 1948. It relates to factories employing 10 or more workers using power and those employing 20 or more workers without using power.
    • For states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Goa, data is collected for factories employing 20 or more workers with power and factories having 40 or more workers without power.
  • Bidi and cigar manufacturing establishments under the Bidi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act 1966, and
  • All electricity undertakings engaged in generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, not registered with the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).
• Significance: The survey results give valuable input to the planners and policy makers in objectively evaluating the industrial scenario of the economy.

Manufacturing Sector in India:

• Manufacturing is emerging as an integral pillar in the country’s economic growth, thanks to the performance of key sectors like automotive, engineering, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and consumer durables.
• With 17% of the nation’s GDP and over 27.3 million workers, the manufacturing sector plays a significant role in the Indian economy.
• India is gradually progressing on the road to Industry 4.0 through the Government of India’s initiatives like -
  • The National Manufacturing Policy which aims to increase the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25% by 2025 and
  • The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for manufacturing which was launched in 2022 to develop the core manufacturing sector at par with global manufacturing standards.

Highlights of the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) for 2022-23:

• Main drivers of the manufacturing growth in 2022-23:
  • These were industries related to basic metal, coke & refined petroleum products, food products, chemical and chemical products and motor vehicles.
  • These industries (taken together) contributed about 58% of the total output of the sector and showed output growth of 24.5% and gross value added (GVA) growth of 2.6% in comparison to 2021-22.
• Number of factories: The total number of factories increased from 2.49 lakh in 2021-22 to 2.53 lakh in 2022-23.
• Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF): GFCF, a proxy for capital investment, grew by over 77% to Rs 5.85 lakh crore in 2022-23 from Rs 3.3 lakh crore in 2021-22.
• Number of employees in the formal sector:
  • Employees include all workers and persons receiving wages and holding clerical or supervisory or managerial positions, etc.
  • Workers include all persons employed directly or through any agency and includes both paid and unpaid workers engaged in any manufacturing process, etc.
  • The total number of employees in manufacturing industries increased by 7.5% to 1.84 crore in 2022-23 from 1.72 crore in 2021-22.
  • This is the highest rate of increase in employment in manufacturing industries in the last 12 years.
  • The highest employment was recorded in factories producing food products, followed by textiles, basic metals, wearing apparel and motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers.
• The average emoluments: These also improved in 2022-23, with average emoluments per person rising by 6.3% in 2022-23 as against the previous year.
• Performance of the states:
  • In terms of GVA, Maharashtra ranked first in 2022-23 followed by Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and UP. These top five states together contributed over 54% of the total manufacturing GVA of the country in 2022-23.
  • In terms of employment, the top five states were Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP and Karnataka in ASI 2022-23, contributing about 55% of total manufacturing employment in 2022-23.
• Key takeaways:
  • The ASI suggests that the impact of the Covid pandemic has been “wiped out”.
  • For example, the estimated number of persons engaged in the manufacturing industries in 2022-23 is higher than the pre-pandemic level of 2018-19 by over 22.14 lakh.
  • The growth is better in sectors where there is a PLI scheme.