Skip to main content

Deceleration in industrial projects lead to dormancy in job market in Gujarat

By Rajiv Shah 
Industrial investment trend suggests that much of the propaganda around Gujarat development has little or no basis. While there has been sharp rise in industrial investment intentions, the actual implementation has taken a backseat, and so has employment generation. 
At a time when there is an acceleration in propaganda across India about Gujarat’s developmental model, which has allegedly helped attract highest-ever investment in the state compared to any other of state of India, resulting in the claim of a sharp rise in employment, the Gujarat government’s own industries department data suggest that there is a huge gap between intended industrial investments and projected job creation and actual investment commissioned resulting in real employment. Worse, the data suggest that there has been a sharp deceleration in the rate of job creation as also actual implementation of projects in Gujarat. A major reason for this could be that, according to experts, Gujarat has all along been encouraging largely capital intensive industries, which require very little manpower.
First, bare facts: In the 12 years between 1989 and 2000, industrial investment proposals for as many as 6,713 industrial projects were made in Gujarat. The amount of investment proposed for these projects was Rs 2,21,817 crore, and a projected employment of 11,84,464 persons. In the 12 years that followed – between 2001 and 2012 – while the number industrial projects proposed to be implemented in Gujarat went down to 6,103, the total projected investment sharply zoomed to Rs 9,36,252 crore. Despite a 322 per cent rise in investment intentions, the projected employment because of this employment during 2001-12 was just 12,28,092 persons – a rise of merely 3.68 per cent against the previous 12 years (1989-2000), suggesting that even in intended investments, automotive industries requiring fewer workforce were being proposed to set up projects in 2001-12.

Now, coming to the actual projects commissioned, between 1989 and 2000, as many as 3,294 industrial projects began their production activity, and the amount of investment involved was Rs 88,654 crore. As against this, between 2001 and 2012, as many as 2,028 industrial projects were commissioned for Rs 1,09,708 crore, suggesting a rise of 23.74 per cent over the previous 12 years. While this suggests a sharp gap between investment intentions and actual investments, the employment generation story tells an even more pitiable story. Between 1989 and 2000, total employment generated as a result of the projects commissioned was 6,07,363 persons. In the 12 years that followed – 2001-12 – the actual employment generation was just half of the previous 12 years. It was just about 3,44,281 persons, suggesting a fall of 43.31 per cent.
Experts believe that for a deeper analysis decadal trends over the years show ground realities more clearly. With this intention in mind, effort was made to see if, for each of the decades that followed 1989-1998 right up to 2003-2012 (in all 14 decadal slots), how industrial investments have taken place in Gujarat and what has been their impact on the employment scenario of the state. The trend suggests that while there has been a sharp acceleration in the investment intentions made in the 14 separate decadal slots analyzed, there was a deceleration in the projects commissioned. As for employment, while there was a not much change in the jobs which were proposed to be created as a result of the intended projects, there was a deceleration in the actual employment created as a result of the commissioning of industrial projects.
Even as parting the data, the state industries department officials gave no explanation as to why such a trend has emerged despite the fact that the actual growth rate of the state economy is claimed to be around 10 per cent per year. Giving her view, senior economist Indira Hirway says, “There is nothing unusual. One should not forget that in recent years the number of projects commissioned or postponed in Gujarat has down up drastically, and the main reason for this is economic slowdown, whose impact continues even now.” She believes that this has adversely impacted the job market, too.

The decadal trend should be especially disturbing for those policy makers who organized Vibrant Gujarat business summits every two years in order to attract investment from across the globe. Clearly, while investment intentions may have gone up, this did not favourably turn into actually implementation. If growth of the economy has taken place in Gujarat, it is not because of industrial investment, but due to the geographical location of state, which has 20 per cent of India’s shoreline and some of the most vibrant ports, at Kandla, Mundra, Dahej, Hazira and Pipavav.

Comments

TRENDING

Campaign group urges INDIA alliance to release Jharkhand manifesto to counter BJP’s 'divisive' agenda

By Our Representative  The Loktantra Bachao Abhiyan, an advocacy group, has issued a press release urging the INDIA alliance to release a Jharkhand-specific manifesto to counter the BJP’s "divisive" electoral agenda. With just two weeks remaining before the assembly elections, the INDIA coalition has yet to announce its plans and priorities for the state. Meanwhile, the BJP's campaign, according to the press release, is centered around communalism, divisiveness, and distraction from Jharkhand's core issues.

Tributes paid to pioneer of Naxalism in Punjab, who 'dodged' police for 60 yrs

By Harsh Thakor*  Jagjit Singh Sohal, known as Comrade Sharma, a pioneer of Naxalism in Punjab, passed away on October 20 at the age of 96. Committed to the Naxalite cause and a prominent Maoist leader, Sohal, who succeeded Charu Majumdar, played hide and seek with the police for almost six decades. He was cremated in Patiala.

Israel's 'war crime': 18,000 children died not just from bomb explosions but also starvation

By Sandeep Pandey*  Last year 6 years old Madiha was a guest during Diwali at our home in Lucknow. Listening to the sound of fire crackers bursting outside she remarked, ‘It appears as if we’re in Gaza.’ She has probably no idea of the extent of damage and loss of life that has taken place in Palestine but can relate to sound of crackers as bombs exploding over Gaza.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Will Left victory in Sri Lanka deliver economic sovereignty plan, go beyond 'tired' IMF agenda?

By Atul Chandra, Vijay Prashad*  On September 22, 2024, the Sri Lankan election authority announced that Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) alliance won the presidential election. Dissanayake, who has been the leader of the left-wing JVP since 2014, defeated 37 other candidates, including the incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party (UNP) and his closest challenger Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya. 

Will Bangladesh go Egypt way, where military ruler is in power for a decade?

By Vijay Prashad*  The day after former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka, I was on the phone with a friend who had spent some time on the streets that day. He told me about the atmosphere in Dhaka, how people with little previous political experience had joined in the large protests alongside the students—who seemed to be leading the agitation. I asked him about the political infrastructure of the students and about their political orientation. He said that the protests seemed well-organized and that the students had escalated their demands from an end to certain quotas for government jobs to an end to the government of Sheikh Hasina. Even hours before she left the country, it did not seem that this would be the outcome.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah  The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Why Han Kang refused to celebrate her personal accomplishment: Nobel Prize in literature

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  South Korean Nobel laureate Han Kang has declined to celebrate and refused to address a press conference after winning the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, citing the deaths, destitution, pain, and suffering of people affected by the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. As reported by the Korea Times, Han Kang’s father Han Seung a renowned Korean writer conveyed her daughter’s message that “with the war intensifying and people being carried out dead every day, how can we have a celebration or a press conference?” She said that “she won’t hold a press conference”. 

In the pantheon of Indian cricket, VVS Laxman as symbol of elegance, resilience, unselfish brilliance

By Harsh Thakor*  On November 1st, legendary Indian cricketer VVS Laxman celebrates his 50th birthday. Known for his elegance, Laxman turned impossible matches on their heads with a style that captivated cricket fans worldwide. He wielded his bat like an artist’s brush, finding gaps on the field with surgical precision, creating innings as meticulously as a sculptor carves a masterpiece. Born in Hyderabad, Laxman inherited the stylistic lineage of local icons ML Jaisimha and Mohammad Azharuddin, blending it with a grace reminiscent of Gundappa Viswanath.