The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 29 September 2026 to develop the Statistical Business Register. The pact creates a two-way API system to share unit-wise data from the Udyam Registration ecosystem for building the National Statistical Business Register. With more than 9.4 crore registrations on the Udyam and Udyam Assist platforms, this data link is set to reshape how India counts and studies its businesses.
What Is the Statistical Business Register?
The Statistical Business Register (SBR) is a central live list of all businesses, enterprises and establishments in a defined area, with details on their activity, size, location and links. The National Statistical Business Register (NSBR) built from it gives surveys a common base for sampling, counting and joining data.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation is building the NSBR as the single reference frame for economic statistics in India. It stores basic facts about each economic unit, such as its name, address, type of activity under the National Industrial Classification (NIC 2008), employment size and turnover slab. It also records how units are linked, for example whether a factory is part of a larger enterprise group.
The SBR is not a one-time list. It is updated on a regular cycle so that births of new firms, closures, mergers and changes in activity are captured. This live quality makes it different from a census, which gives a still photo once in several years. A strong register improves coverage, keeps definitions common across surveys and makes results from different sources easy to join and compare.
What Does the MSME MoSPI MoU Provide?
The Ministry of MSME and the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation exchanged the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 29 September 2026 in New Delhi. The Ministry of MSME said the pact will institutionalise a system for sharing relevant data for the development and strengthening of the SBR.
The core of the pact is sharing of unit-wise data from the Udyam Registration ecosystem held by the MSME Ministry. The data will flow through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), which are software links that let two computer systems exchange data in a safe and automatic way. The API link will work in both directions, so MoSPI can receive enterprise records and send back feedback for cleaning and updating.
The Ministry of MSME said this shared information will improve the coverage, consistency and reliability of business information used for statistical purposes. In practice, this means fewer missing units, the same enterprise counted in the same way across databases and more trusted totals for policy use. The MoU was signed by Rajneesh, Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner in the Ministry of MSME, and Dalip Singh, Additional Director General in MoSPI.
What Is Udyam Registration?
Udyam Registration is the free online system for recognising Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in India. Any enterprise gets a permanent Udyam Registration Number and an online Udyam certificate after self-declaration with Aadhaar, PAN and GST details. The certificate opens access to loans, subsidies and public purchase support.
MSME stands for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. The sector is governed by the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006, which came into force on 2 October 2006. The Udyam Registration Portal (udyamregistration.gov.in), launched on 1 July 2020, replaced the earlier Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum (UAM). Registration is paperless, free of cost and based on self-declaration. It is linked with the systems of the Income Tax Department and the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) for verification.
An enterprise is classed as micro, small or medium on twin tests of investment in plant and machinery or equipment and annual turnover. The limits were raised with effect from 1 April 2025 to widen coverage.
| Category | Investment Limit | Turnover Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Micro | Up to ₹2.5 crore | Up to ₹10 crore |
| Small | Up to ₹25 crore | Up to ₹100 crore |
| Medium | Up to ₹125 crore | Up to ₹500 crore |
Yes, Udyam and MSME refer to the same family. MSME is the sector and Udyam is the official registration that proves an enterprise belongs to it. No enterprise can hold more than one Udyam Registration, though it can add any number of manufacturing or service activities under that single number.
The scale of this database explains its value for statistics. The combined Udyam and Udyam Assist Platform (UAP) database crossed 9.48 crore registrations in early September 2026, with employment reported for more than 42 crore persons. The UAP, launched on 11 January 2023 with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) as the implementing agency, brings Informal Micro Enterprises (IMEs) outside the GST net into the formal fold. Certificates issued on the UAP are treated at par with Udyam certificates for Priority Sector Lending (PSL) benefits.
What Is MoSPI?
MoSPI means the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. It is the nodal agency for the statistical system of India, handling national accounts, prices, surveys and project monitoring. It came into being on 15 October 1999 and works through the National Statistics Office in New Delhi.
MoSPI was formed on 15 October 1999 by merging the Department of Statistics and the Department of Programme Implementation. The Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation (Independent Charge) is Rao Inderjit Singh (as of September 2026). The Secretary of the Ministry also serves as the Chief Statistician of India.
The Ministry has two wings. The Statistics Wing, built around the National Statistics Office (NSO), prepares Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimates, price indices such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) and large sample surveys through the National Sample Survey (NSS). It also prepares the National Indicator Framework (NIF) for tracking Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and publishes reports such as Energy Statistics and Women and Men in India. The Programme Implementation Wing monitors the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) and tracks central sector projects costing more than ₹150 crore along with 11 key infrastructure sectors.
Why Business Register Data Matters for Policy
The Ministry of MSME holds one of the largest live enterprise databases in the country, while MoSPI holds the mandate to turn such administrative data into trusted statistics. Linking the two fills a long felt gap. Survey teams often struggle to find the right firms to interview, especially small units that open and close quickly. A shared register gives them a ready and updated address list to pick samples for surveys on output, jobs, prices and investment.
A common register also helps join data that today sits in separate silos. Udyam details can be matched with GST, income tax and credit records to study birth and death of firms, job creation, export entry and loan access. This work, called business demography, shows how many new firms survive, grow from micro to small and from small to medium, and where they create jobs. Better totals will also feed into National Accounts Statistics, which measure the contribution of MSMEs to GDP and employment.
For the MSME sector, the gains are direct. With reliable counts by district, activity and size, support for credit, technology centres, cluster development and public purchase can be planned with clearer targets. Lenders can check Udyam verification online before giving priority sector loans. State governments, which have earlier signed Udyam data sharing pacts with the Centre, can design local schemes on firmer evidence. In short, the MoU moves India closer to a single source of truth on who produces what, where and at what scale.
Key Takeaways
- The MSME Ministry and MoSPI exchanged an MoU on 29 September 2026 to share Udyam data for the National Statistical Business Register.
- Unit-wise data will flow through a two-way API system to improve coverage, consistency and reliability of business statistics.
- The pact was signed by Rajneesh, Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner, and Dalip Singh, Additional Director General, MoSPI.
- Udyam Registration, launched on 1 July 2020, is free and paperless and had crossed 9.48 crore registrations with UAP in September 2026.
- MoSPI, formed on 15 October 1999, is the nodal agency for GDP, CPI, NSS surveys and monitoring of projects above ₹150 crore.
