India ranks 49th for what it puts into innovation. 25th for what it gets out.
India is 38th of 139 in WIPO's Global Innovation Index 2026: 49th on what goes in, 25th on what comes out.
CapitalVia Research Desk ·
Data story · 2 Oct 2026
Annual Survey of Industries 2024-25 · MoSPI · released 30 Sep 2026
India's factories earn ₹5.5 lakh of profit per employee. They pay ₹3.8 lakh.
2.10 crore people work in India's 2.67 lakh registered factories. The government's annual factory survey shows what each of them adds, what they are paid, and what is left over.
Net profit per employee
₹5.50lakh
a year, before income tax
Pay per employee
₹3.82lakh
a year, or ₹31,871 a month
Across all factories, net profit (₹11.56 lakh crore) is 1.44 times the pay bill (₹8.03 lakh crore).
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Where the value goes
Each employee adds ₹12.83 lakh of value. Here is the split.
Value added per factory employee, 2024-25, shown as shares of every ₹100.
₹0₹100 of value added
Net profitwhat is left for owners, before tax
₹5.50 lakh₹42.9 of ₹100
Paywages, salaries and bonus
₹3.82 lakh₹29.8 of ₹100
PF, gratuity and staff welfarepaid by the employer
₹0.46 lakh₹3.6 of ₹100
Depreciationwear and tear on plant and machines
₹1.88 lakh₹14.6 of ₹100
Rent and interestto landlords and lenders
₹1.17 lakh₹9.1 of ₹100
Of every ₹100 a factory adds in value, about ₹33 reaches its people as pay and benefits. ₹43 is profit.
Five years of the same survey
Profit per employee jumped once. Pay has climbed every year.
₹ lakh per employee, a year, at current prices.
Net profit per employeePay per employee
2020-21
3.82
3.01
2021-22
5.52
3.26
2022-23
5.28
3.46
2023-24
5.48
3.66
2024-25
5.50
3.82
+17.4%
pay per employee since 2021-22
−0.3%
profit per employee, same three years
In 2024-25 alone the pay bill grew 12.1% and net profit 7.7%. These are current rupees, so after rising prices the real gain in pay is smaller.
Inside the average
₹31,871 a month is an average of two very different pay scales.
Monthly pay, 2024-25, gross of PF and tax deductions.
Shop-floor workers79% of people
₹19,003
All employees, average2.10 crore people
₹31,871
Supervisors, managers and other staff estimate21% of people
₹81,213
Workers are 79% of factory headcount and receive 47% of the pay bill. The worker figure covers contract labour as well as direct hires.
The owner's side of the ledger
That profit sits on a great deal of capital.
₹36 lakhof invested capital behind every factory job
15.3%net profit as a share of invested capital, before tax
₹24 of ₹100of value added goes to depreciation, rent and interest
+14.1 lakhpeople added in a year, up 7.2% to 2.10 crore
What it means
One ledger, three readings.
If you draw a salaryRaises come out of value added per employee. In factories that pool grew 2.2% in 2024-25, to ₹12.83 lakh, while pay per employee grew 4.6%.
If you are building a companyA factory job is capital first: about ₹36 lakh invested per person, and ₹24 of every ₹100 of value added is spoken for by machines, landlords and lenders.
If you run a businessHeadcount is up 22% since 2021-22 and profit per employee has not moved. Growth has come from adding people and capital, not from earning more on each.
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