10 mn jobs in electronics, BPO sector in 2 yrs: Ashwani Vaishnaw

Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday said that 10 million additional jobs can be created in the electronics and business processing (BPO) sector in the coming two years, given the strides the start-up sector is making in the country.

Speaking at the national level start-up initiative organised by the Software Technology Park of India (STPI) and Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC), the minister said the electronics sector alone could create additional jobs between 2.5-3 million and the BPO sector could make available 8 million jobs in the coming two years, which will be a substantial addition to the existing level of employment.

As envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to emerge as the technology leader, the country now has an ecosystem that gives importance to merit and talent, that can power innovations and disruptions, he said, adding that such a dispensation never existed before. “There is a visible drive to proliferate frontier technologies in areas like telecom, electronics, railways, and other related areas to help India to emerge as a technology leader,” he said.

The minister said that the manufacturing segment, which is witnessing the mindboggling number of innovations, particularly in the mobile telephone system where India has become a major exporter now as against a net importer a few years ago. “It’s a marvellous achievement which we are trying to emulate in other segments including railways, chemicals, power and semiconductor,” he said, adding that a lot of R&D efforts are currently underway to Fasttrack technological excellence in various segments.

Diversity is another trend that is discernible now, the minister observed. “This is achieved by digitally connecting tier 2 and 3 cities so that entrepreneurship can be nurtured from these cities to widen the bandwidth of the development. Of the 64 digital hubs that have been implemented, 54 are in small cities and towns, which will have a remarkable impact on the proliferation of start-ups in the country,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chairman, ESC, Sandeep Narula explained the rationale of the ESC-STPI start-up initiative. After scrutiny by the Knowledge Partner – Grant Thornton (GT), around 300 start-ups were invited to join these state conclaves against 700+ nominations received. Now, the Jury at the national level will select 40 start-ups after a rigorous process of filtering to participate at the U.S. exposure meeting for building industry linkages, interface with venture capitalists, etc. to be held on 10-11 January 2023, Narula added.