ASUSE 2027-28 to Track Challenges Faced by Women Entrepreneurs

By: Women Entrepreneurs Review Team | Tuesday, 27 October 2026

The Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation has proposed expanding the scope of the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) for 2027-28. The revised survey will collect information on the difficulties experienced by women entrepreneurs, sources of electricity and investments in fixed assets. It will also identify establishments operating in the handloom, power loom and handicraft sectors.

The upcoming survey is expected to cover the period from April 2027 to March 2028, marking a shift from the calendar-year system to the financial-year format. This change is intended to bring ASUSE in line with other enterprise surveys conducted by the government and improve the consistency of economic data.

According to the ministry, the proposed revisions will help meet evolving statistical requirements and strengthen the usefulness of survey findings for policymaking. The additional information on women-led enterprises, energy consumption and capital investment is expected to provide a clearer understanding of business conditions and support the assessment of India's unincorporated sector.

Key Highlights:

• ASUSE 2027-28 will cover women entrepreneurs, electricity use and fixed-asset investments
• The survey will shift to the financial year from April 2027 to March 2028
• The NSO has invited feedback on the questionnaire until November 15, 2026

The survey will for the first time reflect the gender-specific challenges encountered by women entrepreneurs in managing and running their businesses. The data is anticipated to feed into the policy discourse for women's engagement in economic activities.

Questions about sources of electricity will help to give a fuller picture of the pattern of energy use by unincorporated enterprises.

A new question will also collect data for fixed-asset investments over a longer period of time than the current survey schedule, providing a wider range of data on investment trends. At the request of the textiles ministry, questions that will help identify handloom, power loom and handicraft workshops will also be added.

The ASUSE has a significant contribution to the job market and economic activity as well as livelihoods in India, in spite of its non-agricultural and unincorporated status. Information gathered on this survey is used to determine the performance of the manufacturing, trade and other services sector and to identify the areas that need support from the sector.

The National Statistics Office (NSO) has sought feedback from various interested parties, including the government's ministries, data users, and researchers, concerning the information items in the questionnaire. The ministry accepts suggestions until November 15th, 2026, in the prescribed format on its official website.

The ministry will also continue to publish the survey results in the Quarterly Bulletin of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (QBUSE). Quarterly estimates are published to give information on developments in the sector in a timely manner, and the revised questionnaire is designed to make the survey more responsive to the evolving data requirements and policy needs.