Availability of skilled manpower for the industry is going to be important for India to achieve and sustain a higher growth level in the coming decade, according to C Rangarajan, Chairman, Madras School of Economics, and former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

While there is severe deficit in availability of skilled manpower, there is a rising employer expectation.

“Whether this is a crisis or an opportunity? I want to say that crisis always generates the opportunity. Look at 1991. It was only under the shadow of crisis that India performed. I am sure even in the case of skill development, this will happen,” he said in his address at Confluence 2014, an event organised jointly by TalentSprint and National Skill Development Corporation to deliberate on various issues related to employment readiness of college graduates.

India's per capita GDP

The coming decade will be crucial for India. Only if India grows at 8-9 per cent, the per capita GDP will grow from the current rate of $1,800 to $8,000-$10,000 by 2025. Only then India will graduate from a low-income country to a middle-income country, he said.

Growth is important. To achieve and sustain that growth rate, many things need to be done. This includes rise in savings rate, investment rate and the efficiency in user capital should be maintained at a higher rate. And, to achieve all these, skill development is important, he added.

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