Economy could be disrupted if job growth not constant: Former NASSCOM chief

BENGALURU: Former NASSCOM president R Chandrashekhar on Tuesday sounded a note of caution on the economy, saying it could bedisrupted if job growth was not constant.

Speaking at the CoreNet Global India conference with the India: Future Ready', he said government statistics showed that nearly four million jobs in the formal sector were created from September 2017 to March 2018, of which about 50 per cent were in the service sector.

"However, if job growth is not constant, then the economy could be disrupted," said Chandrashekhar, while delving into the topic of digital economy, jobs and corporate real estate.


He was optimistic of a strong growth of the economy, underlining the fact that the country retained its position as the world's fastest growing major economy in the January-March quarter, well ahead of China.

Chandrashekhar also said that India's GDP growth accelerated to 7.7 per cent in the March quarter. "Strong growth in agriculture, manufacturing and construction sectors contributed to the overall growth," he said.

Citinga study by FICCI, NASSCOM-2017, he said that by 2022, the impact on infotech, BFSI would be high, auto and retail would be medium and low in apparel and leather.

Referring to the role of the construction industry, he said that in the Indian scenario, the sector was contributing eight per cent of GDP and was the second highest employer after agriculture.

"Growth of corporates in india is the driver of the Corporate real estate," he added.

The ability of politics to influence the economy was goingdown and the ability of corporates to influence the economy washigh, he said, adding that corporates now also lookat Tier II cities as a place for their companies, which was awelcome sign.

The conference also deliberated upon issues of technology in real estate and its relevance on the future.