Kolkata, Surat top million-plus cities in entrepreneurship

Kolkata, Surat, and Greater Hyderabad emerged as the leading hubs of entrepreneurial activity, together accounting for over 22% of the estimated unincorporated establishments across India's 46 million-plus cities in 2025, according to a statistics ministry report released on Monday.

Greater Hyderabad, Delhi and Kolkata also recorded the largest estimated workforce in the unincorporated sector, jointly employing about 22% of all workers in unincorporated enterprises across these cities.

The report covered 46 cities with million-plus population, which together account for around 13% of establishments, 16% of workers and 21% of the gross value added (GVA) generated by the country's unincorporated non-agricultural sector. This underlines the significant role these urban centres play in India's economy, the report said.


Women continue to make a substantial contribution to the sector. More than one-fifth of establishments in 32 of the 46 million-plus cities are owned by women. Overall, female-owned proprietary establishments accounted for 27.7% of enterprises in these cities, compared with 25.3% in other urban areas. Surat, Vadodara and Pune stood out, with women owning more than 40% of all establishments.

Female workforce participation was also notable, with women accounting for over 30% of workers in 19 of the 46 cities, according to the report.

The data also point to higher productivity in larger cities. GVA per worker averaged Rs 2.1 lakh in million-plus cities, compared with Rs 1.8 lakh in other urban areas, while GVA per establishment stood at Rs 4.2 lakh against Rs 3.2 lakh elsewhere.

Large cities also showed higher levels of enterprise formalisation. About 24.3% of establishments employed at least one hired worker, compared with 19% in other urban areas.

Average annual emoluments per hired worker were also higher, at Rs 1.7 lakh versus Rs 1.5 lakh in the rest of urban India.