Investment, factory jobs grow, wipe out Covid impact

There were 18.5 million persons engaged in factories in 2022-23 compared to 17.2 million in 2021-22 and 16.3 million in 2018-19, as per the survey released on Monday by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (Mospi) and Niti Aayog.

The gross value added (GVA) grew 7.3% to ₹22 lakh crore in FY23 while output rose 21.5% from a year earlier. “It gives us confidence that India can actually aim for 9% plus growth,” Niti Aayog chief executive BVR Subrahmanyam said after the release of the report.

Explaining the rationale, he said the industrial sector is growing at 7% rate, the services sector can grow easily at 12%, and agriculture grows at about 4%.

“You actually are going to touch 9% to 10%. So, India is actually on track, and the data shows we have wiped off the impact of Covid,” he added.

Subrahmanyam is confident that the results of the ASI will be reflected in other data. “I’m sure the RBI, the rating agencies who actually made their own predictions for India’s growth for the future, the World Bank, ADB, will take this into consideration,” he said, adding that a lot of people will be revising their growth forecast upwards for India.Food products accounted for the highest share in employment with 11.4%, followed by textiles (9.3%), basic metals (7.6%), wearing apparel (7.1%), and motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers (6.8%).