India’s informal urban economy is increasingly being powered by its biggest cities, with Faridabad emerging as the country’s top performer in value generated per business and Delhi ranking among the most productive urban centres, according to a report released by the National Statistics Office (NSO).The report, “Urban Unincorporated Enterprise Landscape: Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) 2025 – Insights from Million-Plus Cities”, maps the performance of small businesses that are not registered as companies across 46 Indian cities with population of more than 10 lakh, based on the 2011 Census. The survey covers neighbourhood shops, traders, manufacturers, repair units and service providers run mainly as proprietorships or partnerships, while excluding registered companies, government establishments and factories covered under the Annual Survey of Industries.Although the study focuses on only 46 large cities, it found that they account for 13 per cent of the country’s establishments, 16 per cent of its workers and 21 per cent of the Gross Value Added (GVA) generated by such businesses, highlighting the growing concentration of economic activity in India’s major urban centres.GVA is a measure of the value of goods and services produced by an industry, sector or business after deducting the cost of raw materials and intermediate inputs. It reflects the net contribution made by an enterprise to the economy.Among the 46 million-plus cities, Faridabad emerged as the country’s highest-performing city in terms of value generated per establishment. The city recorded a GVA of Rs 7.75 lakh per establishment, ahead of Pimpri Chinchwad (Rs 7.63 lakh) and Greater Hyderabad (Rs 7.14 lakh). It was estimated to have around 1.43 lakh establishments employing 4.25 lakh workers. Average annual emoluments paid to hired workers stood at Rs 1.94 lakh, the highest among the four north Indian cities examined in the report.The report, however, points out that Faridabad’s estimates carry relatively higher sampling variability than many other cities.Ludhiana retains manufacturing baseLudhiana retained its manufacturing base, with 32% of its establishments engaged in manufacturing, the highest share among Delhi, Faridabad, Ludhiana and AmritsarDelhi, meanwhile, stood out for the value generated per worker. The Delhi Municipal Corporation area was estimated to have 5.92 lakh establishments employing nearly 13.94 lakh workers, while the wider National Capital Territory accounted for more than 10.34 lakh establishments and 22.31 lakh workers.The capital recorded a GVA of Rs 2.66 lakh per worker, the highest among Delhi, Faridabad, Ludhiana and Amritsar, and the third highest among all 46 cities covered by the survey, behind only Pimpri Chinchwad and Greater Hyderabad. Delhi also generated Rs 6.20 lakh per establishment, placing it among the country’s leading urban business centres.The NSO said the report is the first major attempt to generate comparable city-level estimates of India’s non-corporate urban economy, offering a detailed picture of how small businesses contribute to employment and economic activity across the country’s largest urban centres.Services drive Amritsar’s businessesAmritsar had a stronger services footprint, with 45% of establishments in the sector. The city recorded a higher proportion of women-owned proprietary businesses at 21.91%, compared with 17.56% in Ludhiana.