India’s problem is not a lack of jobs but poorly paid jobs, according to Mr Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa and former CEO of Niti Ayog.
He says that the top 50% of India’s population creates growth while the bottom 50% relies on agri wages and welfare schemes, which constrain India’s growth to 6% or so.
Mr Kant said it while addressing the 51st National Management Convention of All India Management Association (AIMA).
He said that Indian economy needs to grow at 9%-10% for the next 30 years to achieve the targets of $18,000 per capita income and $30 trillion GDP by 2047. To grow at 9%-10% rate, India needs to transform the bottom 50% of the population from passive beneficiaries to active contributors. Moreover, he said, India needs 10-12 champion states, not just Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, to attract investment.
He stressed that India’s eastern and central states need to invest in education, health and skills to produce talent that creates the opportunities to attract investment. He said that in these states, the agriculture employment is very high and these would contribute 90% of workforce increase in the next 25 years. These states need to focus on manufacturing-led urbanization to create better quality jobs, he said. To enable the lagging states to improve human development and industrialization, 12 new industrial corridors and 500 cities of 1 million population are being built, he said.
Mr Kant pointed to India’s demography as its biggest advantage. With a median age of 29 years, India needs high quality health, education and employment for this population, he said, and emphasized that to do so the states need to do what the centre has done to make it easy to do business.
Ms Suneeta Reddy, Senior Vice President, AIMA complimented the government for providing impetus to growth through investment and welfare spending, which in turn is enthusing the private sector to invest. However, she said that new growth engines are needed to propel the growth faster and new reforms are needed to get more out of land, labour and intellect.
Mr Kant said that India needs to use its intellectual resource better and commercialize its patents more effectively. He pointed out that last year, India paid out $14.5 billion for royalties while it received only $1.2 billion. He referred to the various missions created to generate intellectual property, such as those for AI, quantum computing and green hydrogen, and emphasized the need for quality patents and not merely more patents.
Energy transition is a key piece of India’s economic transformation, Mr Kant said, and added that India aims to become a net exporter of energy by using its 200GW renewable energy to produce green hydrogen at very low prices.
Mr P Balaji, Group Head- GRC & Corporate Affairs, Air India Limited, highlighted the need for greater inclusion in growth and more industry responsiveness to the needs of the people. He assured that the industry is committed to investing in the whole ecosystem of education, health, and skilling.
The session was livestreamed on AIMA’s social media channels.
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