India has been a laggard among G20 nations in terms of employment generation, and the country needs to create an additional 148 million jobs by 2030 given its population growth, IMF’s First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath said on Saturday.
India on an average grew at 6.6% for the decade starting 2010, but the employment rate was under 2%, Gopinath said at the Delhi School of Economics’ Diamond Jubilee event.
India’s employment rate is much less when compared to other G20 nations, she noted.
“If you look at India’s projections in terms of population growth, India will have to create anywhere between 60 million to 148 million additional jobs cumulatively between now and 2030… we are already in 2024, so in a short period of time we have to create a lot of jobs,” Gopinath said.
Given the scale of what is needed, it is going to require basic reforms including land reforms and implementation of labour codes.
To generate more jobs, she said, there is a need for an increase in private investment as it is not commensurate with a 7% growth in GDP.
However, Gopinath added, public investment is going well but private investment has to improve.
She also said that India should revamp its education system so that it can improve the skillsets of its workforce.
Besides, she said, there is a need to further ease of doing business, improve the regulatory environment and broaden the tax base.
Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India is open to exploring more ways to increase its collaboration with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during her meeting with Gita Gopinath.
During the meeting, Gopinath congratulated the Finance Minister on policy continuity in the fiscal consolidation path being followed by the Government of India.
