India can create 35 crore jobs by 2030, only if it fixes this problem
(You can now subscribe to our
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel
India has the potential to employ up to 35 crore workers in manufacturing and services sectors by 2030, but this will require a major push in skilling initiatives and investment, according to a new study by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER).The study, titled "Pathways to Jobs", led by economist Farzana Afridi, highlights that while the country's labour force has grown by 9 crore since 2017-18, only 6 crore new jobs have been created during the same period. A large share of future employment—nearly 28 crore jobs—is projected to come from the services sector.The report underscores that labour-intensive investments in both manufacturing and services could double overall employment, thanks to inter-sectoral linkages. However, it also notes that employment growth is being constrained by a stagnant manufacturing sector, declining labour intensity, and a shortage of skilled workers."The share of the workforce in agriculture has declined, but manufacturing has not picked up the slack," the report said, adding that labour intensity of production is falling, complicating efforts to absorb the expanding workforce.While there has been some progress—particularly in the rise of high-skill employment in the services sector—the skills gap remains wide. In 2018, 92% of workers lacked training; by 2024, that number had dropped to 65%, but still, only 4% of workers had formal training.To tackle this challenge, the economists suggest expanding vocational education and allowing students to choose between academic and skills-based tracks. They also recommend macro-level policy changes including higher public spending, tax cuts, investment incentives, and eased labour regulations to stimulate job creation.With inputs from ToI
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
Bank of Baroda also waives minimum balance charges amid deposits chase
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Mumbai: State-owned Bank of Baroda on Sunday announced waiver of charges to customers for not maintaining minimum balance in their savings accounts . This has come into effect from July this, the bank joined Canara Bank Punjab National Bank , and Indian Bank in waiving the minimum balance requirement. "With this, customers will not incur any charges for any shortfall in the Monthly Average Balance in their Savings Accounts. The waiver is not applicable on Premium Savings Account schemes," Bank of Baroda said in a suggest the move is likely to be part of lenders' strategy to attract liabilities as deposit growth remains a challenge for the banking industry. "Waiving penal charges on non-maintenance of minimum balance is an indirect message from banks to customers to keep some money with them," said Saurabh Bhalerao Associate Director - BFSI Research, CARE Ratings."Bank deposit is no longer the go-to option for people to save their money. People are now increasingly putting money in other financial products like mutual funds and even direct investment into stocks. With falling rates on deposits, banks may not find it easy to grow their deposit book. Share of CASA (current and savings account) has come down," he Bank, which was the first bank to announce waiver of charges, hoped that the move will encourage customers to shift funds into term or recurring deposits in the long term. "Perhaps if we don't do this, we will lose deposits," bank's executive director S K Majumdar told ET last month."This creates a feel good for the customer. At a time when the industry is facing a challenge of mobilising deposits, especially because capital markets are doing well, this gives customers an alternative," he added.
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
Fresh plan in the works to promote Indian ships for higher cargo share
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel New Delhi: India is readying a new plan to promote domestically-flagged ships after an existing scheme appears set to miss its targets for the sector, hindering the government's aim to become a key player in global maritime consultations have identified aggregated demand for about 200 new Indian ships worth ₹1.3 lakh crore required for imports by the petroleum, steel, and fertiliser sectors."Shipping Ministry is working with Ministries of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Steel, and Fertiliser to address the low imports on India flagged ships," the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways (MoPSW) said, responding to queries from ET. "This has resulted in demand for around 200 ships of 8.6 million Gross Tonnage (GT) worth around ₹1.3 lakh crore which would be jointly owned by the public sector companies (PSUs) and built in Indian shipyards over the next few years," the ministry Centre's latest attempt to bolster the lineup of Indian-flagged merchant ships follows the high probability of the current ₹1,624 crore scheme to promote such vessels missing its goal. Maritime trade experts say the share of cargo carried by domestically-flagged ships in imports is still at around 8%, unchanged since 2021 when the scheme was launched."A review of the scheme is now expected but just ₹330 crore has been disbursed till now, and the share of Indian flagged ships remains in single digits," a senior official told ET. The scheme was announced in the FY22 budget and approved by the Union cabinet in July 2021. Funds were to be disbursed till FY26, providing up to 15% subsidy to Indian shipping companies participating in global tenders issued by the Centre and its arms. Sops were offered for importing government cargo such as crude oil, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), coal, and share of Indian vessels in the carriage of the country's export import (EXIM) trade plunged to about 7.8% in FY19 from 40.7% in 1987-88. As per official estimates, this led to around $70 billion annual foreign exchange outgo to foreign shipping lines. Indian ports handled around 1540.34 million metric tonnes (MMT) cargo in 2023-24, 7.5% higher than a year ships mandatorily employ Indian seafarers while also complying with domestic taxation and corporate laws, leading to 20% higher operating costs, according to official watchers say the increased operating costs is due to higher costs of debt funds, shorter loan tenures, and taxation on wages of Indian seafarers engaged on Indian vessels. There is also an integrated Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Indian companies importing ships, blocked GST tax credits, discriminatory GST on Indian vessels providing services between two Indian ports; all of which are not applicable to foreign ships providing similar services. The domestic industry has been lobbying for lowering of these duties and taxes."Nothing has happened to reduce this burden of duties and taxes on Indian ships that impairs their competitiveness," Anil Devli, CEO, Indian National Shipowners Association told ET.
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
Private investments flat, but pickup in demand seen: CII Chief Rajiv Memani
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel New Delhi: Private investment stayed flat in the last three-six months as companies are finding it challenging to envisage manufacturing amid an uncertain tariff structure, though it is currently seeing a revival in line with an improvement in the demand environment , said Rajiv Memani, president, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)."I won't say it has gone down, but it is kind of flat in the last three to six months. But we can see an acceleration happening as the demand environment picks up especially with the interest rate reduction," Memani told ET, adding that land and environment approvals should also be firms announced new projects worth ₹3.5 lakh crore in the quarter ended June, sharply rising from ₹1.4 lakh crore a year earlier, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy. However, it was the lowest level of private investments in four quarters. On urban consumption, Memani said there is some slowdown, especially in the lower-to-middle-income noted that India previously used to take a long time for inking free trade agreements (FTA) with the West. That scenario has changed, with all nations including India presently evaluating trade pacts with trusted partners."I think it's a positive change, but it is a big change. We are signing up with large countries where we have complementarity of with countries we are competing with," said Memani, adding such pacts also create a bigger market opportunity besides generating interest from micro, small and medium issues that India should be wary of while negotiating FTAs with developed countries, he said, "You have to be trusting and verifying go in step by step rather than trying to boil the ocean in one go."Insisting that India has to create efficiency by unleashing further reforms on land, logistics, energy, and labour productivity, even at the state level, he also called for more investments in R&D. "We need to act with more speed and look at either reforms and allocations towards R&D and also some of the production linked incentive (PLI) schemes or schemes like PLI which require some initial support," Memani how the industry is preparing to deal with shocks such as China suspending rare earth exports, he said companies are reducing their financial risks, taking lesser debt, and relying more on industry chamber is assessing the extent of India's reliance on global supply chains. Citing the instance of compressors, Memani said the critical parts are imported and that CII is engaging with the government on ways to address the issue and areas where PLI support is has recently recalled its engineers and technicians from the Indian factories of Taiwanese contract manufacturing giant Foxconn and Memani said the Centre has been cautioning the local industry that such things can happen, urging it to be prepared. The government, he noted, has been proactive and offered PLI said CII's suggestions on goods and services tax (GST) reforms include rate rationalisation and slab structuring, subsuming all taxes in the overarching framework and input tax credit which impact industry competitiveness. "I think it's very important that we find ways and means to bolster the income and resilience of the bottom 30%," Memani reform pertains to assessment audit processes wherein states have their own separate audits with each raising different issues and asking different sets of information. "What we have recommended is that there should be a standard operating procedure. Secondly, can we just do the audit once at least for the MSMEs. So these are newer issues that are coming up," he said. The last GST reform is technology-linked where for smaller companies, CII has recommended lesser compliances."Within some sectors, there are areas where we have dependencies in industry is trying to see how the gross value add can improve. So if you look at electronics, how can you bring it up to late 20% or early 30% in the next five-six years," Memani said, pointing to disabilities in certain sectors. The CII has set up an AI Centre of Excellence to help companies become more efficient. "We are seeing early signs in some industries-information technology and financial services. I think there is a clear need that India should be the AI capital of the world," said Memani.
