Rise in investments will generate more jobs this decade: CEA

Improved capital formation in the economy, accompanied by various government measures, will generate more job opportunities in this decade than the previous one, chief economic advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran said on Tuesday.

Speaking at an event, he said the decline in fixed investment and the moderation in credit expansion, which had hurt economic growth prospects in the previous decade, were hopefully "a thing of the past".

"Non-food credit growth is now running close to 20%, balance sheets of companies and banks are in good shape and hiring (is improving)," Nageswaran said. Citing the 2021-22 data he said jobs in the farm sector had declined about 1.5 million but manufacturing and services added 3.7 million each and the construction sector created 1.9 million jobs. This trend is likely to continue in the future, as indicated by the "robust gross value added growth in manufacturing and construction sectors", Nageswaran said. The CEA said regulatory and tax policy implementation regimes need to be made less onerous, less cumbersome, less coercive and less predatory. He also highlighted the difficulty in formally winding down failed businesses.