Shillong, Oct 5: Thousands of small businesses operating outside the corporate sector form a significant part of Meghalaya’s economy, with East Khasi Hills emerging as the state’s biggest hub for such enterprises, according to the latest National Statistics Office (NSO) survey.
The Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) 2025, released by the National Survey Organisation, estimates that East Khasi Hills has 68,038 unincorporated establishments, employing 1,46,863 workers—by far the highest among Meghalaya’s districts.
The survey covers businesses in manufacturing, trade and selected services outside the corporate sector. These include proprietorships, partnerships, self-help groups, cooperatives and other establishments that are not incorporated under the Companies Act.
The figures offer one of the clearest district-level snapshots yet of Meghalaya’s small-business economy.
East Khasi Hills accounts for a sizeable share of the state’s unincorporated enterprises, followed by West Garo Hills with 28,087 establishments, West Jaintia Hills with 28,071, and Ri-Bhoi with 22,881. The four districts together account for more than half of the state’s estimated establishments.
The NSO estimates that the top 10 districts account for 88 per cent of Meghalaya’s unincorporated establishments.
Women have a strong presence
The survey also highlights a substantial role for women in Meghalaya’s small-enterprise economy.
In Eastern West Khasi Hills, women account for 61.52 per cent of workers in the sector, while 58.62 per cent of proprietary establishments are female-owned. The district has an estimated 13,933 establishments employing 19,467 people.
East Khasi Hills also records a high level of female participation, with women accounting for 44.76 per cent of workers and 50.95 per cent of proprietary establishments being female-owned.
Ri-Bhoi has 55.52 per cent female workers, while South West Khasi Hills records 56.80 per cent.
East Khasi Hills leads in hired-worker establishments
The capital district also stands out for its dependence on hired labour.
About 35.92 per cent of establishments in East Khasi Hills are classified as hired-worker establishments, the highest share among the districts highlighted in the survey.
The district also records the highest estimated gross value added (GVA) per establishment among the listed Meghalaya districts at ₹3.17 lakh, while GVA per worker is estimated at ₹1.49 lakh.
Ri-Bhoi follows with GVA of ₹2.44 lakh per establishment and ₹1.47 lakh per worker.
A statewide network of small enterprises
The survey shows that Meghalaya’s unincorporated economy extends well beyond Shillong and its immediate surroundings.
West Khasi Hills has an estimated 19,075 establishments, while Eastern West Khasi Hills has 13,933. South West Garo Hills has 13,173, East Garo Hills 10,526 and North Garo Hills 10,302.
At the lower end of the table, East Jaintia Hills has 9,562 establishments and South West Khasi Hills 5,961.
The NSO survey was conducted across rural and urban areas during January-December 2025 and is the first major NSO exercise to provide district-level estimates of the unincorporated sector. It is designed to capture the scale of businesses outside the formal corporate sector, including their employment and economic contribution.
The numbers, however, need to be read with some caution. The NSO says district estimates are subject to sampling variability and that comparisons between districts—particularly financial indicators—should not be treated as straightforward rankings. Differences may also reflect local economic structures and the presence of particular industry clusters.
The survey provides a valuable picture of an often less visible part of Meghalaya’s economy: the shops, workshops, trading units, service businesses and other small enterprises that employ a large number of people but sit outside the corporate sector.
