Modi must raise India's competitiveness in labour-intensive manufacturing

Good times are rolling for the BJP, which has got the mandate to govern winning a staggering 282 seats on its own. With power comes huge responsibility for the projected PM Narendra Modi to revive the country and bring it back on the growth trajectory.

 

During his tenure as chief minister of Gujarat, Modi emerged as nation's most aggressive economic change-agents, streamlining the obstructive bureaucracy and making much-needed improvements in infrastructure. Now there is great anticipation that Modi will do the same on a national scale.

 

Modi must also improve India's competitiveness in labour-intensive manufacturing. Goldman Sachs, in a March report, figured that if India undertook a thorough overhaul of its labour laws, 110 million new jobs could be created over 10 years, adding some 1.2 percentage points onto annual GDP growth.

 

The problem of inequality of access to social and economic opportunities, resources and justice which is a major reason of internal threats also needs to be addressed.

 

Abhishek Kumar Mishra is a student of IIM, Shillong, 2013-15 batch.