Earlier on Monday, the Economic Survey 2023-24 tabled in Parliament on Monday, noted that 65 per cent of India’s growing population is currently under 35 and most of them lack the skills needed by a modern economy. Although the employability rate of the youth has improved from 34 per cent to 51.3 per cent over the last decade, only a shocking 51 per cent of the youth is currently deemed employable.
To tackle the gap, prominent leaders from India’s tech sector stressed the urgent need for the government to prioritise these areas in the upcoming budget.
Venkatraman Narayanan, MD & CFO at Happiest Minds Technologies, mentioned the importance of foundational reforms. “The Interim Budget announced earlier, continued on what the government has followed in the previous 10 years. The focus was on fiscal prudence, growth support, support for Infra, and ease of doing business. If all goes well and as per plan these should create jobs and keep us on target to become a USD 5 trillion economy soon.”
Amit Chadha, CEO and Managing Director at L&T Technology Services (LTTS), too, mentioned the importance of prioritising engineering skill development, enhancing employability, and fostering closer collaboration between industry and academia. He said, “Maintaining India’s competitive edge in digital engineering and Industry 4.0 expertise is crucial, and these measures will help achieve that.”
NXP Semiconductors’ India chief Hitesh Garg too resonated with the thought of investing more on skill development along with digital infrastructure. “The 2024 Union Budget should prioritise investments in digital infrastructure and offer incentives for research and skill development. These measures are important for building an ecosystem conducive to cutting-edge technologies such as SDV, AI, and IoT, strengthening cybersecurity measures and enhancing IT exports,” Garg said.
According to the Economic Survey 2023-24, India’s workforce totals approximately 56.5 crore, with over 45 per cent employed in agriculture, 11.4 per cent in manufacturing, 28.9 per cent in services and 13 per cent in construction.
Integration of technology education was another angle that was spotlighted by Hemant Sahal, CEO & Founder at Digii. Sahal said he hoped to see major investments aimed at accelerating the adoption of the National Education Policy (NEP) through the integration of technology and the capacity building of stakeholders in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). “With AI revolutionising industries, we look forward to the government placing a special emphasis on introducing robust infrastructure and allocating resources to upskill the workforce, as well as imparting AI skills and competencies to students.”
Meanwhile, Ankush Sabharwal, Founder and CEO at CoRover, mentioned how the government can play a larger role in augmenting AI research and development by helping up the ante on related programmes. “The government can play a pivotal role by investing more in AI research and development, fostering public-private partnerships, providing tax incentives, and establishing AI-focused educational programmes to equip our workforce with essential skills,” he said.
On AI, the Economic Survey mentioned that as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly integrated into economic activities, it is essential to guide technological advancements toward collective welfare. Employers need to find a balance between utilising technology and maintaining employment opportunities. It also underlined agro-processing and the care economy as promising sectors for creating and sustaining quality jobs.
TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship CEO Ramesh Alluri Reddy, feels expansion of apprenticeship programmes in the upcoming budget will be key. He pointed out that prioritising skill development and broadening apprenticeship opportunities are key to creating a highly skilled workforce for advanced manufacturing and technology sectors.
Reddy said that while nearly a million apprentices were engaged in 2023-24, increasing this engagement from 0.14 per cent to 3 per cent of the workforce could potentially add around 20 million apprentices. This increase would hugely boost the Indian industry’s talent pool, improve entry-level wages and productivity and strengthen the connection between academic education and practical industry experience.
Tax And More
Looking ahead to the full budget for 2024, Happiest Minds’ Narayanan pinned his hopes for continued progress in more areas. He called for resolving issues related to unnecessary tax litigation, providing relief for the middle class, simplifying capital gains tax laws, making the new tax regime more compelling while phasing out the old one, and driving growth in the IT sector through investments.
Narayanan also stressed the importance of clarifications around labour laws, Sebi, Fema, GST, Customs, the Companies Act, the Income Tax Act, and other regulations to further ease doing business. “Policy measures that incentivise research and development in emerging technologies will be pivotal in positioning India as a global innovation hub. Streamlining tax structures tailored to the IT sector will not only attract increased investments but also accelerate industry growth,” he added.
Meanwhile, LTTS' Chadha added that there was a need for supportive policies and investments in digital infrastructure. “We look forward to more supportive policies and initiatives in the upcoming budget, including trust-based governance, increased investments in digital infrastructure technologies, tax incentives and the establishment of advanced Centers of Excellence (CoE) to drive R&D innovation. This will ensure that India remains a preferred global destination for engineering services,” he said.
