BUDGET MUST CREATE EMPLOYMENT, INDUCE DEMAND AND INVESTMENTS: PHD CHAMBER

By 121 News Reporter

Chandigarh 25^th February:- Rajiv Bali, Chairman, Punjab Committee, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, while complimenting the new Government for big-bang reform announcements said the forthcoming Union Budget 2015-16 is being formulated in a benign macro-economic environment at domestic and international level after many years. The economy is looking up and the real GDP growth rate has improved significantly.

He said that the key drivers of economic growth would be creating more and more employment opportunities with increasing the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25%. While giving suggestions for creating employment with growth and competitiveness of the manufacturing sector. He said that around 50 crore people in India are under-20 years of age and, thus, will be under the working age in the next 20 years, implying a need for the creation of about 10 lakh new jobseach month to provide them gainful employment. However, less than 10% of the workforce at around 5 crore is skilled only. An unskilled labour force implies that expansion of skill-intensive services cannot be the primary job creating solution for India. So, in this regard, manufacturing sector must grow fast with a sizeable contribution in the overall economic growth.

For the growth of manufacturing sector, the MSMEs segment should be looked into seriously. MSMEs have immense potential to create millions of new employment opportunities due to labour intensive production processes, however, MSMEs definition in India is limited and far away from global standards. It should be turnover basis; Rs. 1crore to 25Crore for Micro enterprises, Rs25crore to Rs100Crore for Small enterprises and Rs100crore to Rs1000crore for Medium enterprises.