Goa targets 50,000 jobs, Rs 25,000-crore investments in 5 years

PANAJI: The Goa Government has pinned hopes on the defence sector to generate large-scale employment for local youth and aims to create 50,000 jobs in the next five years.

"The Defence Ministry has given order worth Rs 32,400 crore to Goa Shipyard Ltd. This will create employment opportunities for around 25,000 people. At least 10,000-15,000 of these will go to youths from Goa," Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said in his Budget presented today in the Assembly.

The contract to Goa Shipyard, situated on the banks of the River Zuari near Mormugao Port, relates to building of state-of-the-art Mines Counter-Measures Vessels (MCMVs).

"These vessels will be built over the next eight," said Parsekar, who also holds the finance portfolio.

He said the Government's plans to have a helicopter production unit in Goa will also create employment potential in the coastal State.

The Chief Minister said his Government's target is to create 50,000 jobs in the next five years and facilitate Rs 25,000 crore new investments by 2020.

Incentives will be given to industries which are sick so that their closure does not lead to lay offs, he said, adding "one job saved is one job created."