Manufacturing investments rose in FY20 as rent, profits, interest paid fell

Manufacturing sector investments grew 20% in 2019-20 over the previous fiscal even as the rent payout, interest paid and profits fell.

As per the provisional Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation for FY20, gross fixed capital formation (GFCF), was Rs 4.15 lakh crore compared to Rs 3.44 lakh crore in FY9. There was a 1.7% increase in the number of factories in the country.

Employment in the corporate sector, which includes public and private government and non-government companies, increased 5.5% to 97.03 lakh in 2019-20.


ASI, the principal source of industrial statistics in India, is the most comprehensive data on organised manufacturing. It covers all factories employing 10 or more workers using power and those employing 20 or more workers without using power.

Employment in individual proprietorship fell 3.1% to 11.36 lakh and in the partnership sector declined 11.7% to 18.58 lakh while that in limited liability partnership rose 42% to 1.22 lakh in FY20.

Among states, the highest number of employment of workers in factories was in Tamil Nadu, followed by Maharashtra and Gujarat.

The number of workers rose 2.02% to 1.3 crore, according to the survey report.

Total wages provided to factory workers rose to Rs 2.29 lakh crore from Rs 2.15 lakh crore in the previous fiscal. These factories’ profits shrank 16% on-year to Rs 4.67 lakh crore from Rs 5.56 lakh crore in FY19. This is the second straight contraction on profits.

The survey was conducted during April 2021 to January 2022 through ASI Web Portal.

“The field work of ASI 2019-20 was suspended/affected for a long time due to second wave of Covid-19 in the country which stretched the survey period beyond its stipulated time,” the ministry said.

The survey results are for the year before the Covid-19 pandemic.

In FY20, the urban sector had 1.43 lakh factories with fixed capital of Rs 13.64 lakh crore employing 72.79 lakh workers as against 1.42 lakh factories, Rs 12.92 lakh crore fixed capital and 70.14 lakh workers in 2018-19.

The rural sector had 1.03 lakh factories with fixed capital of Rs 22.71 lakh employing 57.78 lakh workers in 2019-20,

while in FY19, there were 1 lakh factories in the rural sector having fixed capital of Rs 21.74 lakh crore that employed 57.83 lakh workers.