Ten million additional jobs can be created in the electronics and Business Processing (BPO) sector in the coming two years, given the strides, the start-up sector was making in the country, said Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology Ashwani Vaishnaw on Wednesday.
Inaugurating the national-level Start-up Initiative organised by the Software Technology Park of India (STPI) and the Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC), he said the electronics sector alone could create additional 2.5-3 million jobs and the BPO sector could make available eight million jobs in the coming two years, which would be a substantial addition to the existing level of employment.
Vaishnaw referred to three megatrends that are unfolding in the country as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Foremost among them, according to him, was a determination to emerge as the technology leader powered by the country’s talent pool, ingenuity, high level of computer literacy, and commitment to excel.
“We now have an ecosystem that gives importance to merit and talent, that can power innovations and disruptions,” he said, adding that such a dispensation never existed before. There is a visible drive to proliferate frontier technologies in areas like telecom, electronics, railways, and other related areas to help India to emerge as a technology leader.
Next in importance, the minister said, is the manufacturing sector which is witnessing a mindboggling number of innovations, particularly in the mobile telephone system where India has become a major exporter now as against a net importer a few years ago.
“It’s a marvellous achievement which we are trying to emulate in other segments, including railways, chemicals, power and semiconductor,” he said. According to the minister, a lot of research and development efforts were under way to fast-track the technological excellence in various segments.
He observed that diversity was another trend that was discernible. This, he said, was achieved by digitally connecting tier 2 and 3 cities so that entrepreneurship can be nurtured from these cities to widen the bandwidth of the development.
Of the 64 digital hubs that have been implemented, 54 are in small cities and towns, which will have a remarkable impact on the proliferation of start-ups in the country, said the minister.