💹 Economy & FinanceMAINS · GS3.1 · GS3.2

The informal-enterprise survey moves to the financial year

ASUSE will run April to March from 2027-28, matching the industry and services surveys, and will ask for the first time about the constraints women entrepreneurs face.

What happened

The National Statistics Office (MoSPI) will move the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) from the calendar year to the financial year.
ASUSE 2027-28 is proposed for April 2027 to March 2028, aligning the survey with the ASI and ASISSE and making its data easier to use for the national accounts.
To avoid a break in quarterly estimates, January-March 2027 will also be surveyed, on the existing ASUSE 2026 schedule, before the new cycle begins in April.
For the first time, the schedule will capture the gender-specific constraints that women entrepreneurs face in operating and managing their establishments.
New questions add sources of electricity, fixed-asset investment over a longer reference period, and - at the Ministry of Textiles' request - identification of handloom, power-loom and handicraft units.

For Prelims

ASUSE: Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises, by the National Statistics Office (MoSPI), conducted since 2021-22 to generate data on the characteristics and economic operations of unincorporated establishments.
Coverage: the unincorporated non-agricultural sector, which the release says contributes significantly to employment and gross value added and supports activity through its linkages with the incorporated sector.
Calendar change: calendar year (January-December) to financial year (April-March), starting with ASUSE 2027-28 (April 2027-March 2028).
Why: to match other enterprise surveys - the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) and the Annual Survey of Incorporated Services Sector Enterprises (ASISSE) - and to make the data more usable for the national accounts.
Bridge: January-March 2027 surveyed on the ASUSE 2026 schedule, so that quarterly estimates do not break during the transition.
Women entrepreneurs: gender-specific constraints on operating and managing establishments, asked for the first time - an evidence base for policy on women's participation in economic activity.
Other additions: sources of electricity (energy-use patterns) · fixed-asset investment over a longer reference period (investment trajectory) · two questions identifying handloom, power-loom and handicraft establishments (Ministry of Textiles).
Retained and process: the sample design allowing district-level estimates by participating States continues; the changes came from Data User Conferences, consultations with Ministries and expert groups, and suggestions during ASUSE 2026.

For UPSC: ASUSE (NSO, since 2021-22) moves to April-March from 2027-28, like ASI and ASISSE; adds women entrepreneurs' constraints, electricity sources, handloom-handicraft identifiers; Jan-Mar 2027 bridged.

What it is NOT: ASUSE does not cover agriculture or incorporated enterprises - those are measured by other enterprise surveys such as the ASI and ASISSE. The release changes the calendar and adds questions; it does not change who is surveyed, and it gives no sample size, budget or release date for ASUSE 2027-28 results.

For Mains

Syllabus: GS3.1 · GS3.2 · Linkage L2

Anchor

India's informal enterprises have been measured by a survey that did not run on the same year as the national accounts it feeds - a small calendar change with a large effect on how usable the numbers are.

Substantiation (data)

From 2027-28 the unincorporated-sector survey runs April to March, alongside the Annual Survey of Industries and the services-enterprise survey, with January-March 2027 bridged on the old schedule so the quarterly series does not break.

Exemplification

Two questions added at the Textiles Ministry's request will identify handloom, power-loom and handicraft establishments within the survey frame - a sector where the informal economy meets traditional knowledge, and which policy has had to reach without granular data.

Problematisation

The constraints women entrepreneurs face have not been measured in this survey until now, so policy on women-led informal enterprise has been made without that baseline; the release also gives no sample size or date for first results.

Way-forward

Publish the women-entrepreneur module at district level, where the survey design already supports estimates, so State programmes can target the constraints it finds.

Position

MoSPI's stated position is that official statistics should respond to the data needs of user Ministries and stay relevant to a changing unincorporated sector, without losing continuity in the series.

Deploys into: Indian economy + inclusive growth (GS3.1, GS3.2) · informal sector measurement, women's entrepreneurship and the statistical system's base-year and calendar reforms.

Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation · 2026-10-26 · PRID 2328476 · PIB source ↗