In his speech titled "Developing Human Capital for a Growing India," Nitin Paranjpe, Nnon-executive Chairman of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), stated that India has set itself an ambitious goal to become a USD 10 trillion economy and secure the position of the third-largest economy by 2030. He emphasized that in order to achieve the lofty objective, the country's growth rate must increase from its historical average of about 7 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) during the previous ten years to above 8 percent.
Even if reaching this goal is difficult, he claimed that it is definitely doable and greatly required. "We have momentum on our side," stated Paranjpe. We have been among the world's fastest-growing major economies over the past ten years," the statement said, noting that India's growth rate is nearly equal to that of China (about 7 percent), and far higher than that of the biggest nations - the US and the UK at 2% and Japan at 1 percent.
He also emphasized how financial inclusion and economic progress have been fueled by investments made in India over the past ten years, which have laid the groundwork for what is already one of the greatest digital public infrastructures in the world. "Financial inclusion was propelled by India's unique identity scheme, or Adhaar, which was introduced in 2010. That, along with UPI, has significantly increased digital transactions in the nation, he said, adding that 46 percent of all digital payments worldwide are made in India. This makes the so-called India tech stack—which includes programs like the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), which have the potential to democratize commerce - among the most enviable in the world. And one that will support continued expansion," Paranjpe informed the stakeholders.
He stated that a major increase in women's employment involvement is required in the nation. In the next stage of its development, India's expanding working-age population may prove to be its greatest advantage, according to Paranjpe This has the potential to provide enormous benefits for India and Indians with careful cultivation and growth. In his address, he stated, "It is our demographic dividend - the human capital above all capital." With a median age of 28, India's working-age population is already over 65 percent younger than that of the US, UK, China, or Japan. According to him, this trend is expected to continue, with India's working-age population share expected to rise to roughly 69 percent while that of these other countries will continue to decline.
"India will house one-fifth of the world's working-age population, providing us with a chance to leverage the expansion of our skilled labor force to enhance economic advancement," he stated. However, he made the point that as life expectancy rises and birth rates decline, India will also begin to age, therefore the nation must take advantage of this window of opportunity. Speaking on the development of jobs, he estimated that India would need to generate 90 million non-farm jobs in order to absorb the growing working-age population as well as manage the labor movement from agriculture.
"India's service sector will present a potential for growth and employment generation in the coming decade," Paranjpe stated. He also mentioned the financial services sector, which is seeing expansion due to rising demand for banking and insurance services, as a source of job prospects. Paranjpe lists consumer retail services, e-commerce, global capability centers, health and hospitality, and consumer retail services as additional businesses with room for expansion in employment.
He said that in order to retain qualified individuals in the Indian economy, the nation must establish a solid basis in basic education, make vocational skill development accessible, and keep up its efforts to reskill and upskill the current workforce. As per Paranjpe, corporates must also have a major role. "A tight public-private cooperation has the power to transform the whole ecosystem by elevating the nation's capacities and talents to a level necessary for our aspirations for progress. We must collaborate with the government if India Inc. is to have a real impact.
Speaking about HUL's involvement, he stated that the company's frontline sales staff recently worked with outside learning partners to improve their knowledge of omnichannel interaction and data-driven decision-making. He stated, "In fact, we have been steadfastly working to drive a cultural change and embrace equity and inclusion through our value chain over the years to create a truly future-fit workplace."
