Modi to focus on employment generation in first budget after election snub
Business
Middle class also a focus as BJP is dependent on allies after failing to claim two-third majority
Official figures show India urban employment rate around 6pc, others say it is 9pc
Government to spend $24bn over next five years on job creation
New Delhi to hasten loans from multilateral agencies for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, the two states governed by key allied parties
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The first budget of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after this year's general elections will focus on employment and the middle class, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday.
The government will allocate 2 trillion rupees ($24 billion) to create jobs over the next five years, Sitharaman said, in a plan that provides employment-linked incentives to companies, including those in manufacturing.
Programmes to improve skills and provide subsidised loans for higher education will also be launched, Sitharaman added.
India's official unemployment rate in urban areas is close to 6 per cent, but private agency the Centre For Monitoring Indian Economy pegs it higher, at close to 9pc.
Government data this month showed 20 million new job opportunities generated in India each year since fiscal 2017-18, but private economists said self-employment and temporary farm hiring accounted for much of the figure, rather than formal positions with regular wages.
Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost its absolute majority in the election last month, making it dependent on allies to form a government for the first time since he came to power more than a decade ago.
Sitharaman said the government would hasten loans from multilateral agencies for the eastern state of Bihar and the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, both governed by key allies.
