Budget 2018 is around the corner and common man of the country is waiting to see what it has in offer for him in terms of job creation. The Finance Minister Arun Jaitley know that generation of jobs is a complex issues that actually depends on a variety of factors. However, this issues still needs to be addressed in each and every union budget. The budget 2018 may most likely focus heavily on the issue of job creation considering the flak it received from opposition in the last year. Just ahead of budget 2018-19, prime minister Narendra Modi held a meeting nation’s 40 top economists on “Economic Policy The Road Ahead”, which was organized by NITI Aayog last week. The economists advised the government to focus more on job growth as nearly 20 percent of Indian youth are jobless.

India is among the high tax countries globally with the statutory corporate tax rate at 34.61 percent. The corporate tax rate here is higher by 10 percent-plus compared to the worldwide average statutory corporate tax rate. “This high rate in the country is negatively impacting the competitiveness of Indian multinational companies and that of India as a destination for investment. Our tax laws incentivise automation, capital-intensive and big industry at the cost of labour-intensive and small-scale industries which create more jobs. Budget 2018-19 will surely look at these ideas.

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The manufacturing industry’s increased use of capital and automation along with huge tax incentives is leading to reduced employment growth in a labour-surplus country. For too long, India has incentivised big industry and more automation, discriminating against labour and jobs. While automation increases productivity, jobless growth will destroy our society, and creating jobs remains the foremost priority,” Pai and Krishnan said.

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India needs creation of 10 million to 12 million jobs each year. Budget 2018 should look at creating jobs in the fields of capital-intensive sectors such as manufacturing, mining, power plants etc. The public sector banks have been large employers.

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Even the Trade Unions want the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to allocate more funds in the Union Budget 2018 for employment generation. The unions expect that opening up of the retail market to foreign players would lead to further job loss. “We want the government to spend the maximum in job creation. We think after such a big loss of jobs in India because of demonetisation, the government should bring back jobs lost and generate more jobs,” All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) general secretary Amarjit Kaur told PTI.