This book re-examines India’s economic growth through the frame of employment (or the lack of it)

Manufacturing employment fell in India after 2015, while it had been consistently stabilised at or around 17% of GDP ever since the economic reforms began in 1991. However, self-inflicted wounds upon the economy by the government did not help. The most labour-intensive sectors, including textiles, wood products, food processing and leather/footwear, struggled until 2018 and did not recover after Covid-19 – except apparel and food processing.

Manufacturing contribution to GVA (gross value added) fell consistently from 2016 onwards, did not begin to recover until 2022 and did not reach its pre-demonetisation level by 2024. The same is observable in manufacturing as a share of total employment, although in absolute terms, by 2023, the absolute number of employees in manufacturing had finally caught up to the 2012 level and exceeded it.

Only the apparel sector saw significant growth, driven by changing consumer demand for casual wear, government support through the performance-linked incentives scheme and shifts in global sourcing. The sector also embraced digital marketing and e-commerce, which helped fuel its recovery. Other labour-intensive sectors continued to decline.

Furniture, jewellery, musical instruments and sports goods showed modest job growth but only after 2020–2021. This growth contributed to a slight increase in total manufacturing employment, which reached 64.8 million...

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