In both academic and activist discourse, particularly with regard to India, the concept of the informal sectorhas come to prominence, particularly after India’s liberalization. This article demystifies the idea of theinformal sector in India, revealing the multilayered existence of various groups of workers in vulnerablepositions which are by no means inevitable or permanent but rather are the product of India’s history andpolitical economy. Accordingly, it is the case that certain interventions have the potential to transform thelives of India’s unorganized workers, but such policy would need to target the specific needs of eachunorganized group of workers. We argue that the concept and discourse of the informal sectors imply thepermanence of unorganized, unregulated work. Conceptualizing Indian labor in this way leads to a positionthat the state should provide support and welfare measures to help workers survive at a bare minimum levelof subsistence, but also to a fundamental failure to address the structural and specific causes of workers’vulnerabilities.