India's Factory Cities: Where India Makes Things, State by State

A Belgian buyer asked on a forum in 2023 whether Tiruppur could make a full clothing range, and an Indian supplier answered straight - "Tirupur is great if you need massive quantities. They specialize in knits, and thats it" (r/streetwearstartup, 2023 (opens in a new tab)). Wovens, the reply went on, meant other cities entirely. That one exchange is India's factory map in miniature. This post walks you through where India actually makes things, from the government's own factory survey, and what each place means for you as a buyer abroad.

What this post isn't is the town-by-product list. We've done that already, with every official export town, its terminal and its port, on India's manufacturing clusters. Here I'm zooming out to the states and big cities, then pointing you to the towns. One caveat - India's official statistics stop at the state, so anything below that is either a named government list or labelled for what it is.

1. How Many Factories Are There In India?

The number most people quote comes from the Annual Survey of Industries, which counts registered factories under India's Factories Act. In 2023-24 there were 2,60,061 of them, employing 1.96 crore people, or about 19.6 million (MoSPI, ASI 2023-24 (opens in a new tab)). The average factory had 73 workers and 92 people in all.

That's the formal layer only. Most Indian manufacturing happens in small workshops below the Factories Act line, and no survey counts them the same way. So when a supplier says "we're a factory", it can mean a 300-person unit on the ASI register or a family workshop with a dozen machines. Both can be good suppliers. You just want to know which one you're dealing with, and the free records that tell you are on how to check an Indian supplier.

Here's the number I find most useful as a buyer. Contract workers were 42% of all workers in 2023-24, up from 38% five years earlier (same survey). That's normal in India and it isn't a red flag. It does mean a factory's capacity in October, before the festival season, may not be its capacity in November, when migrant workers go home. Ask about the season, not just the headcount.

2. Tamil Nadu: The Most Factories In India

Tamil Nadu had 15.43% of India's registered factories and 15.24% of its factory workforce in 2023-24, first on both counts (ASI 2023-24). If you only visit one state, this is a strong candidate, because it covers several categories foreign buyers care about.

Chennai and its belt towards Sriperumbudur, plus Hosur near Bengaluru, are where India's phones are assembled. Tamil Nadu shipped US$14.65 billion of electronics in 2024-25, 41.3% of India's electronics exports (the state's industries minister via KNN India (opens in a new tab), Reported). Further south and west, Tiruppur makes cotton knitwear, Karur and Erode make handloom and home textiles, and the Ambur-Ranipet-Vellore belt makes leather goods and shoes (DGFT export towns).

The buyer point is geography. Tiruppur is about 390 km from Chennai's port in a straight line, and they ship through different ports - Chennai for one, Cochin or Tuticorin for the other. Don't assume "Tamil Nadu" means one pickup.

3. Gujarat: The Most Output

Gujarat had 12.81% of India's factories but the largest share of output, 17.22%, and of fixed capital, 19.53% (ASI 2023-24). Put simply, its factories are bigger and more capital-heavy on average than Tamil Nadu's.

For a foreign buyer, Gujarat's names are Morbi for ceramic tiles, Ahmedabad for textiles, Surat for diamonds and gems (its official export listing) and for fabric (its reputation among buyers), and Kutch for handicrafts. Rajkot is widely called an engineering town, though we haven't found an official listing that says so (associations we couldn't verify).

Gujarat's other advantage is the coast. Morbi and Rajkot are about 120 km from Mundra, which is short by Indian standards. That's worth something when you compare a Gujarat quote with one from a town 1,000 km inland.

4. Maharashtra: The Most Value Added

Maharashtra added the most value of any state, 15.95% of India's manufacturing GVA, with 10.20% of its factories (ASI 2023-24). It's the state of Mumbai and its hinterland, and much of what it makes is higher-value industrial and consumer goods sold inside India.

For export buyers, the official export towns in Maharashtra are Bhiwandi and Kolhapur for textiles, both using Nhava Sheva as their port (India's manufacturing clusters). Mumbai also matters as the air cargo hub for Surat's gems, since Surat's own airport handled no international freight in 2025-26 (AAI (opens in a new tab)).

5. Uttar Pradesh And The Delhi Region: The Craft Belt

Uttar Pradesh had 8.51% of India's factories and 8.30% of its factory workers (ASI 2023-24). Its value to a foreign buyer is out of proportion to that share, because it holds so many single-product towns. Moradabad for metal handicrafts, Agra and Kanpur for leather, Firozabad for glass, Bhadohi and Mirzapur for hand-knotted carpets, and Saharanpur for woodcraft (DGFT export towns and UP ODOP).

Right next door, the Delhi region's belt of Noida, Gurugram and Faridabad is where India makes woven apparel and fashion. That's the other half of the Belgian buyer's answer - knits in Tiruppur, wovens up north.

The catch is distance. Every one of these towns is roughly 1,000 km or more from Mundra in a straight line, so the inland leg is a real part of your cost and your calendar.

6. Karnataka, Telangana And The Southern Tech Belt

Karnataka was fifth for manufacturing GVA at 7.47% (ASI 2023-24), and Bengaluru's electronics made up about 22% of India's electronics exports in 2024-25 (KNN India, Reported). Bengaluru also has one of India's busiest cargo airports, which suits goods that fly.

Hyderabad, in Telangana, is India's pharmaceutical city. The state says it produces around 40% of the country's pharmaceutical output (Invest Telangana (opens in a new tab), the state's own claim, so treat it as Supplier-stated). Pharmaceuticals were among India's top five industries by value added in 2023-24 (ASI 2023-24). If you import medicines or ingredients, you'll meet Hyderabad whether you plan to or not.

7. Punjab, Haryana And Rajasthan: Knitwear, Home Textiles And Handicrafts

Haryana was fourth in India for manufacturing output at 7.23% (ASI 2023-24), much of it the Delhi-side belt. For export buyers the northern names are Ludhiana in Punjab for woollen knitwear, Panipat in Haryana for blankets, carpets and bed linen, and in Rajasthan, Jaipur and Jodhpur for handicrafts and Bhilwara for textiles (India's manufacturing clusters).

These are towns where the export house model is common. A company holding the export licence places your order with several workshops and answers to you for the result. That's how craft scales, and it's a perfectly normal way to buy. Just ask which workshop will make your order and who checks it before it ships.

8. What Each City Means For You

India doesn't do one-stop cities the way China's biggest hubs do. It does specialist towns, spread across a big country, each strong at one thing. That's a strength if your product matches a town, and a headache if you want a mixed range from one supplier.

So here's how I'd use this map. Name your product first and find its town on the clusters page. Check the state is one where the ASI numbers suggest real factories, not just traders. Then plan the port before you plan the visit, because the port shapes your freight, your Incoterm and your timeline. If you want the Chinese hubs set against these towns, that's in China vs India factory cities, and why India is worth the effort at all is on why source from India.

And if the map says your range needs three towns in three states, you don't have to run all three trips yourself. SourcingSync (opens in a new tab) has people in the clusters who can visit, shortlist and manage the makers for you.

The Belgian buyer got the most useful answer India has to give. Tiruppur for knits, somewhere else for wovens, and a supplier honest enough to say so. Find the town that does your thing, and India makes a lot more sense.