The article examines the issues of application and improvement of the methodology for evaluating industrial enterprises as recipients of state support within the framework of the implementation of industrial policy. The authors considered approaches to the content of industrial policy, investigated the factors influencing its efficiency, identified aspects of its imperfections that arise when applying an incomplete list of important parameters of economic development and ambiguity in the interpretation of previously applied estimates. The article presents proposals to improve the methodology for assessing potential recipients of state support based on the development of a comprehensive indicator for assessing enterprises (recipients of support), taking into account not only the classical parameters of the economic efficiency of industrial enterprises applying for state financial assistance, but also such aspects as the development of budgetary funds, belonging to priority sectors of the economy, characteristics of sustainable development and export and innovation potential. Combining the results of a comprehensive assessment of the recipient of state support with a map of the business demography of the territory allows making a decision not only about the fact of support and its efficiency, but also to predict the assessment of the life cycle of the enterprise and its subsequent development.