Government says MSMEs now report over 8 crore jobs under UDYAM; Uttar Pradesh leads states
New Delhi, July 23
The government on Thursday said Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises reported more than 8.04 crore employment under the UDYAM registration portal in FY2025-26, up from 6.91 crore in FY2024-25 and 5.45 crore in FY2023-24, indicating a steady rise in reported employment over the past three years.
In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for MSMEs Shobha Karandlaje shared the latest UDYAM employment data for the last three financial years.
According to the data, Uttar Pradesh reported the highest MSME employment in FY2025-26 at 1.18 crore, followed by Maharashtra (67.97 lakh), Tamil Nadu (61.47 lakh), Telangana (60.56 lakh) and Bihar (55.54 lakh).
The sector-wise breakup also indicates that trading remained the largest source of reported MSME employment in FY2025-26 at 2.98 crore, ahead of both services (2.57 crore) and manufacturing (2.50 crore), suggesting that trading enterprises currently account for a bigger share of employment under the UDYAM ecosystem than manufacturing units.
However, the data also showed that reported employment declined in some states compared with the previous financial year.
Andhra Pradesh's reported MSME employment fell from 70.08 lakh in FY2024-25 to 36.66 lakh in FY2025-26, while Karnataka declined from 65.57 lakh to 50.87 lakh. Punjab's reported employment also dropped from 28.60 lakh to 14.96 lakh during the same period.
The reply came in response to a question that also sought details on the sustainability and quality of employment generated by newly established MSMEs, including their survival rate and the number of enterprises that had ceased operations, particularly in Kerala.
On this, the government said, 4,252 MSMEs had closed or shut down in Kerala during the last three years, while around 4.61 lakh MSMEs had been registered in the state.
However, the reply did not provide any assessment of the quality of jobs, such as wages, job security or formal employment. It also did not provide a separate breakup of youth employment.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Happy to see such growth in MSME registrations! My family runs a small textile unit in Tamil Nadu, and UDYAM has made it easier to get loans and subsidies. But I wish the government focused more on manufacturing instead of trading – services and trade are fine, but we need more factories to create stable jobs for our youth.
Great numbers, but let's be honest – how many of these are actually formal jobs with proper contracts and benefits? 4,252 MSMEs shutting down in Kerala alone shows the fragility. The government needs to track not just registrations but survival rates and job quality. Otherwise it's just numbers on paper 📉
Interesting to see Bihar in the top 5! That's a positive sign for the eastern states. But I'm curious why no data on youth employment or wage levels was provided. Growth without quality improvement won't solve India's employment crisis. Hope the next report includes these details.
Punjab's employment dropping by half is alarming! Our state has huge potential in agro-processing and small manufacturing. The government must investigate why so many MSMEs are closing. Is it due to loan issues, market access, or policy problems? We need action, not just statistics.
Trading sector leading employment makes sense – especially with e-commerce growth. But manufacturing needs more push. Make in India should focus on MSMEs in electronics and pharma. Also, please provide youth employment data! So many young engineers are jobless, yet these numbers don't tell their story.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.