India's 46 Million-Plus Cities Generate 21% of GVA, Driving Formal Jobs and Higher Wages
Updated
Updated · Study IQ Education · Jul 16
India's 46 Million-Plus Cities Generate 21% of GVA, Driving Formal Jobs and Higher Wages
2 articles · Updated · Study IQ Education · Jul 16
Summary
PLFS 2025 and ASUSE 2025 show India’s million-plus cities are becoming the main engines of formal employment, wage growth, enterprise expansion and productivity in the urban labour market.
Forty-six million-plus cities account for 21% of gross value added despite only 13% of unincorporated establishments, pointing to stronger productivity from firm clustering, skilled labor and innovation ecosystems.
More than half the workforce in these cities is in regular wage or salaried jobs, while Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Gurugram have strengthened their roles as startup, GCC and knowledge-industry hubs.
Women’s labor-force participation in million-plus cities rose to 27.2% in 2025 from 19.8% in 2017-18, widening access to formal and service-sector work even as gig and informal jobs still absorb many workers.
The metropolitan-led shift is accelerating migration, remittances and structural change, but it is also straining housing and infrastructure and widening gaps with smaller towns and lagging regions.
As AI threatens informal work, can India's cities prevent their economic boom from displacing millions of vulnerable workers?
With urban jobs rising for women, does this signal true empowerment or a shift into more vulnerable, underpaid labor?
Is India's metropolitan-led growth creating inclusive prosperity or simply deepening the nation's social and regional divides?
India's Million-Plus Cities in 2025: Growth, Jobs, Gender Shifts, and the Urbanization Challenge
Overview
India's 46 million-plus cities are vital economic engines, contributing 30% of the nation's Gross Value Added and 23% of total employment, despite housing only 16% of the population. These cities stand out for their high share of formal jobs—58% of the workforce compared to the national average—and offer workers average wages that are 40% higher than elsewhere. Productivity per worker is also 30% above the national average, reflecting the cities' advanced infrastructure and skilled labor. Together, these factors highlight the outsized role of million-plus cities in driving India's economic growth and job creation.