14.85 lakh new jobs in exports sector in 2004-05: Study

The export sector was estimated to have generated 14.85 lakh additional direct employment during 2004-05, stated a study by the Research & Information System for Developing Countries (RIS). The overall merchandise export activity now sustained nearly 16 million jobs, the study said.

With exports amounting to $79.6 billion in 2004-05, total direct employment generated by exports had increased to 90.06 lakh, it said.

This does not include export-related indirect jobs created through backward linkages and in logistics and related sectors which are estimated to add up to another 69.66 lakh jobs.

The study pointed out that though India had emerged as a leading global hub for the knowledge-based service industry in the last 10 years, the services revolution could not absorb the millions of unskilled and the semi-skilled.

"India needs an industrial revolution to compliment the booming services to meet the challenge of employment creation," the study said.

The study titled "Towards an Employment-Oriented Export Strategy: Some Preliminary Explorations" was undertaken at the behest of the commerce and industry ministry.

The elements of an employment-oriented export strategy would include small-scale policy and industrial clusters, linking export incentives to incremental exports rather than total exports, attracting export-oriented foreign direct investment, and strengthening enterprise-level innovative activity, the study said. It also stressed the need for social safety nets and labour reforms, along with restricting raw material exports, and addressing trade barriers in major export markets.

India currently faces a major challenge of employment generation for its millions of unskilled and semi-skilled unemployed workers. The employment in the organised sector had shrunk in the recent years despite acceleration in GDP growth.

China, Malaysia, Thailand, among others, had built export-oriented manufacturing industries and had created millions of jobs, while generating output and foreign exchange, the study said. The study also explored the role the exports sector could play in employment generation.