'Report fails to ... ': Centre slams Citigroup's dismal jobs forecast for India

NEW DELHI: Government on Monday responded to the Citigroup's forecast that India will struggle to create employment even at 7% growth rate saying that the report does not take into account all official data sources.
"The recent research report by Citigroup on Employment in India quoted by some of the print and electronic media, which forecasts that India will struggle to create sufficient employment opportunities even with a 7% growth rate, fails to account for the comprehensive and positive employment data available from official sources such as the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) and the Reserve Bank of India's KLEMS data," labour and employment ministry said in a press statement.
"Therefore, the Ministry of Labour and Employment strongly rebuts such reports which do not analyse all official data sources available in the public domain", it added.
What Citigroup said
Citi report forecasts that India must generate approximately 12 million jobs annually in the next decade to accommodate new entrants into the labor market.
With a growth rate of 7%, the report says, that India may only manage to create 8-9 million jobs each year.
How Centre responded
Citing PLFS and RBI's KLEMS data, labour ministry said that from 2017-18 to 2021-22, the Covid years, India generated over 80 million jobs which amounts to 20 million jobs every year on an average.
The ministry said that this "contradicts Citigroup’s assertion of India’s inability to generate sufficient employment."
What does report say on quality of jobs in India
The quality of jobs in India remains a concern, according to the report. It highlighted that despite agriculture contributing less than 20% to GDP, about 46% of the workforce is employed in this sector.
Manufacturing, which represented 11.4% of total employment in 2023, has seen a decline compared to 2018, indicating a lack of recovery since the pandemic.
'Formal sector employment ... ': Government highlights positive trend
Pointing out a positive trend in rise in formal sector employment, the ministry said, "During 2023-24, more than 1.3 crore subscribers joined EPFO which is more than double compared to 61.12 lakh joined EPFO during 2018-19. Moreover, during last six and half years (since September, 2017 to March, 2024) more than 6.2 crore net subscribers have joined EPFO."
It further highlighted the booming gig economy sector saying, "The gig workers are expected to form 6.7% of the non-agricultural workforce or 4.1% of the total livelihood in India by 2029-30."