India must create 148 million additional jobs by 2030 due to population growth: IMF's Gopinath

New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) India has been a laggard among G20 nations in terms of employment generation and the country needs to create an additional 148 million jobs by 2030 given the population growth, IMF's First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath said on Saturday.

India on an average grew at 6.6 per cent for the decade starting 2010 but the employment rate was under 2 per cent, she said at the Delhi School of Economics Diamond Jubilee event here.

So, India's employment rate is much less when compared to other G20 nations, she said.

"If you look at India's projections in terms of population growth, India will have to create anywhere between 60 million to 148 million additional jobs cumulatively between now and 2030... we are already in 2024, so in a short period of time we have to create a lot of jobs," she said.

Given the scale of what is needed, it is going to require basic reforms including land reforms and implementation of labour codes.

To generate more jobs, she said, there is a need for an increase in private investment as it is not commensurate with 7 per cent growth in GDP.

However, she said, public investment is going well but private investment has to improve.

She also said that India should revamp its education system so that it can improve the skill set of its workforce.

Besides, she said, there is a need to further ease of doing business, improve the regulatory environment and broaden the tax base. PTI