Karnataka stays well-linked to the rest of the world, with the size of its exports pegged at $90 billion as against its $250 billion economy, said Gaurav Gupta, Principal Secretary, Department of Industries and Commerce. With a growth rate higher than national average and lowest unemployment rate in the country, the State is key to fulfilling the India’s aspirations of becoming a $5 trillion economy, he said.
“There are several advantages that Karnataka offers including a robust ecosystem, skilled manpower and a vast talent pool. However, one of the key concerns is job creation. We need to analyse in what way industry can create more jobs across the social spectrum, and not just for the skilled and educated,” Mr. Gupta added, while speaking at a CII event on Thursday.
Soumitra Bhattacharya, Managing Director, Bosch Ltd was of the opinion that India's demographic dividend could turn into a demographic disaster if we do not have a working model on vocational training. “Out of the 30,000 people who come into the job market, only 1,000 get jobs. Though we have some of the best educational institutions in India, our practical training in skills is not good enough. Hence, graduates spend a year on the bench before becoming productive,” he said.
“Bengaluru has a growing population, traffic has slowed down to 9 km per hour. If we don’t tackle the environment and infrastructure issues with a holistic granular game plan, we may be sitting on a time bomb,” he cautioned.
CII has announced its new office-bearers for Karnataka. Sandeep Singh, Managing Director, Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery, has been elected as chairman of CII Karnataka State Council for the year 2020-21 while Ramesh Ramadurai, Managing Director, 3M India, will serve as vice chairman.
