Employment in India’s organised manufacturing sector rose 7.19% to 21 million in 2024-25, as factories, capital spending and worker pay all increased.
India’s organised manufacturing sector added more than 1.4 million jobs in 2024-25, lifting total employment in registered factories to 21 million, according to the latest Annual Survey of Industries released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The figures point to a year in which factories expanded on several fronts at once, with more workers, more plants and higher spending on capital all helping to drive the sector forward.
The survey showed employment in the registered manufacturing sector rising 7.19 per cent from 19.6 million a year earlier, while the number of factories increased 2.64 per cent. That combination suggests a broadening of activity rather than growth concentrated in only a few large units. Wage and compensation data also moved higher. Wages paid to workers climbed 13.03 per cent, total emoluments rose 12.08 per cent, and average pay per person engaged increased from ₹3.66 lakh to ₹3.82 lakh. Average wages per worker went up from ₹2.16 lakh to ₹2.28 lakh.
Investment growth outpaced output expansion, indicating that manufacturers were building up their capital base even as production improved. Invested capital rose 11.10 per cent and fixed capital increased 10.54 per cent, compared with a 7.81 per cent rise in output. Gross value added reached ₹26.94 lakh crore, up 9.59 per cent, while net income increased 9.68 per cent and net profit rose 7.73 per cent. MoSPI’s labour-force data for 2025 also points to manufacturing gaining a larger role in jobs across the economy, with the sector taking a bigger share of workers as agriculture’s share declined.
The industrial footprint remained heavily concentrated in a handful of states. Tamil Nadu accounted for 15.44 per cent of factories and 14.99 per cent of total workers, while Gujarat had the biggest share of fixed capital at 19.87 per cent and the largest share of total output at 16.93 per cent. Maharashtra led in manufacturing gross value added with 15.92 per cent. Together, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana accounted for about 56 per cent of all manufacturing jobs.
Industry composition was also narrowly concentrated. Food products held the largest share of factories and employment, while basic metals accounted for the biggest share of fixed capital and output. Basic metals, motor vehicles, chemicals and chemical products, pharmaceuticals and food products together made up more than 45 per cent of manufacturing gross value added, underlining how much of India’s factory value creation still comes from a relatively small number of sectors. Recent industrial production data from MoSPI also suggest that this momentum carried into 2025, with August’s index of industrial production rising 4.0 per cent year on year and basic metals and motor vehicles among the stronger performers.
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