Annual Survey of Industries

The Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) is the principal annual survey of India’s registered factory sector, conducted by the National Statistical Office. It measures the sector’s production, inputs, value added, capital, employment and labour costs, allowing changes in industrial growth and structure to be assessed. Its statutory factory frame does not represent the entire universe of manufacturing enterprises.

Coverage of the survey

The main coverage consists of factories registered under the Factories Act, 1948 and engaged in a manufacturing process as defined by that Act.

• Under Section 2(m)(i), a premises is ordinarily a factory when 10 or more workers are employed and manufacturing is carried on with the aid of power.
• Under Section 2(m)(ii), the corresponding threshold is 20 or more workers when manufacturing is carried on without the aid of power.
• The worker threshold applies where the required number worked on any day during the preceding twelve months.
• The ASI also covers bidi and cigar manufacturing establishments registered under the Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966.

What the ASI measures

The ASI collects factory-level information and produces estimates of the registered factory sector’s size, composition and performance.

• It measures the number and operational characteristics of factories and the nature of their industrial activity.
• It records employment, workers, wages and other labour costs.
• It measures fixed capital, invested capital and additions to capital assets.
• It records inputs such as materials and fuels, along with the quantity or value of products and other outputs.
• It derives indicators such as gross value added and net value added from information on output, inputs and depreciation.

How to interpret ASI data

ASI findings describe the registered factory sector and should not be treated as measures of all Indian manufacturing.

• Small, unregistered and household manufacturing enterprises outside the statutory factory frame are measured through other surveys.
• Coverage means inclusion in the ASI frame; eligible units may be surveyed on either a census basis or a sample basis, depending on the survey design.
• ASI data support analysis of industrial growth, productivity, employment, wages and changes in the sectoral structure of factories.