New Delhi: Reviving growth and job creation tops industry body Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) priority list this year. Indicating a positive outlook, CII forecasts a 7.5-8% growth this year and ascertains that India can create five million jobs a year.

According to a CII analysis, India is creating about 3.7 million jobs annually and 10-12 million people enter the working age population every year. About half of them do not look for jobs as they prefer to go into education or other activities.

“Construction sector will be the single largest contributor to the extra 1.5 million jobs. We will also see considerable job growth in tourism and healthcare. The newer jobs in startups, content creation will be other areas," Shobana Kamineni, president, CII, said in New Delhi.

The national steel policy that will lead to domestic steel manufacturing and government procurement, and 100% FDI in retail, are two other areas where job opportunities will start coming, added Rakesh Bharti Mittal, the new president designate of CII.

CII announced the appointment of Kamineni, the executive vice-chairperson of Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Ltd, as the new President for the year 2017-18 on 30 April.

Kamineni, the first woman president of the industry body, said that going forward “it is possible to target one percentage point additional growth each year to reach 10% in the next three years," adding that it is eminently possible to create five million jobs each year, if the GDP growth rate can be boosted.

“The drivers for this step up in growth would include the benefits from implementation of GST, greater participation of women in the labour force, the urbanisation process which will drive greater economic activity in areas such as construction and government spending of up to Rs30 trillion in various infrastructure projects over the next few years," Kamineni said.

A CII estimate shows that the entire construction sector can add 30 million jobs in the next 10 years. These projects will also provide essential connectivity for enhancing opportunities for income growth. Total spending of Rs30 trillion is envisaged over the next four to five years under projects including investment program of the Indian railways, 20,000 km of highway building under the Bharatmala project and Sagarmala for port-led development.

“Our conservative forecast is that based on these projects, India’s GDP could increase by as much as 50% over the next five years. Similar increases in job creation can also be expected," Kamineni said.

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