Apparel making jobs target in key Indian state “98% below target”

The apparel making job creation target in India’s Maharashtra state (the area round Mumbai) seems to be 98% below its 2012 target, according to its 2016-17 Economic Survey.

A 2012 plan intended getting businesses to invest Rs 400 bn ($6.2 bn) by 2017 in textile parks across the state, creating 1.1 mn jobs. But the survey says there are just 16 textile parks functioning, employing 23,000 people – just 2% of the total forecast.

An unnamed official was slightly more optimistic, saying“Investments in the total textile projects approved by financial institutions and in various phases of enforcement by March 2017″ have the potential to create  250,000 jobs, attracting total investments of $2.5 bn.

But that is still 77% below the jobs target, and 60% below the investment target. Perhaps equally important, the private sector investment needed per new job was calculated in 2012 at $5,600: it has turned out to be around $10,000: the plan was hopelessly naive about the level of investment needed to create jobs.

The problem reflects a growing number of reports about India’s failure to create jobs in the apparel and textile industries, both nationally and regionally. Plans to deal with the problem appear more interested in appeasing lobbies than in real jobs.