Ahead of the nation-wide 8th Economic Census set to be conducted from next month, the Tamil Nadu government is gearing up for the exercise by constituting State-level and district-level co-ordination committees. The exercise is expected to last till December this year. Conducted once in five years, the Economic Census is aimed at ascertaining the complete count of all establishments within the State.
As part of the enumeration during the Economic Census, all establishments including household enterprises involved in commercial production and distribution of goods and services in non-farm and non-agricultural sector would be recorded. The Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation under the Government of India conducts the Economic Census to collect data over various aspects of establishments and enterprises in the country.
The Tamil Nadu government has constituted State and district level committees to facilitate the 8th Economic Census. Chief Secretary would be the chairperson of the State-level co-ordination committee, and the Secretary of the Planning and Development Department would be the State Charge Officer. Commissioner in the Department of Economics and Statistics would be the Member-Secretary, officials said.
The State-level committee would monitor preparedness and progress, review progress of field work monthly and ensure complete coverage of the data canvassed through validation against existing databases such as the State Business Register. Respective District Collectors would be the chairperson of the district level co-ordination committees. In Chennai, there would be a coordination committee for Greater Chennai Corporation and its Commissioner would be the chairperson.
Though the nation-wide 7th Economic Census was held in 2019, West Bengal did not take part in the exercise and some States had reservations over the provisional results, while some others did not approve. According to the All-India Report of the 6th Economic Census (data collected between 2013-14), Tamil Nadu had 8.60%, the fourth highest in the country in terms of the total number of establishments in the country.
TN also accounted for 8.91% of the total employment in the country and the fourth highest among the States and Union territories in the country. The maximum number of larger establishments in the country was reported in Tamil Nadu (13.81%).
“Among the States, the largest share in number of establishments under women entrepreneurship was held by Tamil Nadu (13.51%) followed by Kerala (11.35%), Andhra Pradesh (10.56%), West Bengal (10.33%) and Maharashtra (8.25%),” the report said.
Published – March 07, 2025 11:39 pm IST
