Government eyeing job creation through infra push in aviation, railways

The railways and aviation related industries are expected to generate significant employment as the government looks to create and upgrade infrastructure in both these sectors. The civil aviation sector is looking at an investment of about Rs 3 lakh crore over the next few years, while the Indian railways is pitching for over Rs 8 lakh crore investment in the first phase of its turnover plan.

“In aviation, for every direct job that you create, there are 6 indirect jobs created,” said Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation at the CNBC-TV18 Mint 'Budget Verdict–The Infra Ministerial' event. Currently, there are about 2,00,000 direct jobs in the aviation sector. These include pilots, cabin crew, ground staff, among others.

And with each of these direct jobs, a number of indirect jobs are added. As per estimates, the total number of jobs in the aviation sector stands at about 1.2 million.  “As the sector gears up for massive expansion, it will add a substantial number of jobs,” said Sinha, addressing the packed audience in Delhi. Besides, airports are economic engines. Take for instance, the international airport in the capital. It is currently the single largest infrastructure project in India. Already as much as Rs 30,0000 crore is invested in it and going forward, there will be another Rs 30,000 crore as per the masterplan that will help accommodate about 110 million passengers from the current level of 60 million passengers.

On the other hand, railways, which is among the largest employment generators in the world, is expected to create employment in three major segments such as manufacturing, services and agriculture, said Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu at the event. “Whatever investment you make in the sector will have a direct impact on jobs – the potential here is even higher than other sectors,” he added. The Railway Ministry ministry has already chalked out a plan to revive the sector and complement the aviation regional connectivity scheme.

All in all, with the governments increased focus to augment infrastructure capacity and modernisation, key sectors like roads, transportation, railways, aviation are expected to get a push and drive the economy.