New Delhi: India must invest in artificial intelligence research and boost skilling, education and employment to reach its target of becoming a developed nation by 2047, industry experts urged at the Mint India 2047 summit on Friday.
Skilling and employment are among the priorities for India’s 2047 vision. The skill development and entrepreneurship ministry has laid a roadmap for equipping trainers with the right skills and technology to help upskill others.
“India should invest in becoming superstars in AI. Why is it that we are not investing in large research capacity in AI?,” said Sonalde Desai, distinguished university professor emerita, University of Maryland, and professor, National Council of Applied Economic Research.
“The other thing is we are a kind of an echo chamber around services and knowledge industries, but let’s not forget the real sector. Manufacturing jobs should not be forgotten because those are not going to be taken away by AI as easily as other jobs,” Desai added.
On whether AI was a threat to the labour force, Manish Sabharwal, vice chairman of staffing firm Teamlease Services, said: “I am not sure India needs to worry that much (about AI). The nightmare of the US is that 42% of their labour force will generate 14% of their GDP (gross domestic product). What can it do to us? We are there already.”
AI is projected to inject $967 billion into the Indian economy by 2035.
The World Economic Forum’s ‘Future of Jobs’ report delivers an engaging projection for the global job market, predicting substantial changes in nearly a quarter of existing jobs worldwide. According to the report, about 75% of the companies surveyed are set to embrace AI, presaging a significant reshaping of the job market.
To ensure jobs for India’s growing population of working-age individuals, experts at the Mint summit suggested the need to solve issues related to finances and increase government spending on education, among other things.
“We have had enough innovation in curriculum, pedagogy and training, but we haven’t figured out finances. Who pays is the problem,” said Sabharwal.
Rajendra Singh Pawar, chairman and co-founder, NIIT Group, added: “Our bigger problem is a large bulk of people has to be handled by the government. There is no choice; we have to accept that.”
India faces a dual challenge of a severe shortage of skilled manpower in industries on the one hand and high youth unemployment on the other.
As per the India Employment Report 2024 by the Institute for Human Development and the International Labour Organisation, India’s working-age population increased to 64% in 2021 from 61% in 2011, and is projected to reach 65% in 2036. However, the percentage of youth involved in economic activities declined to 37 % in 2022.
As per the latest data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, an independent think tank, India’s unemployment rate increased to 8% in 2023 from 7.33% in 2022 and nearly 6% in 2021. In June this year, India’s unemployment rate was 9.2%, up from 7% in May.
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