‘Mahindra & Mahindra Group Chairman’ Anand Mahindra addressed the company’s AGM (Annual General Meeting) on Friday (August 5). Speaking on the occasion, Mahindra said that the dependence of the countries of the world on China in the global supply chain is decreasing and this is a big opportunity for countries like India.
In his statement given at the AGM, Anand Mahindra said that the circumstances are completely with India, but for us to take full advantage of it, the most important thing is to fill the gap created due to jobless growth.
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Anand Mahindra pointed to the social unrest, saying that our country has the largest youth population in the world and it is not difficult to imagine the social unrest that would happen if jobs are not created in the country.
Citing data from the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), he said, “Indian unemployment rate is around 7-8 percent. This is because the job growth rate does not keep pace with the GDP growth rate. The government has promised to provide 10 lakh jobs by 2023. Our country has a workforce of 90 crore people. A lot needs to be done now.”
Further raising the issue of employment, he said that only 40 percent of the total workforce of the country is working or in search of work. In contrast, more than 60 percent of the total workforce in the US works. Currently, job creation is mainly happening at the lower end of the gig economy – drivers for Uber and food delivery for Zomato. This is not enough, manufacturing needs to be boosted to create jobs on a large scale and to take advantage of the growing global opportunities in India’s favor.
‘Mahindra & Mahindra’ reported a standalone income of Rs 19,617 crore in the first quarter results, an increase of 67 per cent year-on-year, while the company’s profit during the period climbed 67 per cent to Rs 1,430 crore.