Finance Secy TV Somanathan: There's a nudge for industry to opt for less automation, use more labour
Finance Secretary TV Somanathan said in an interview to Anuradha Shukla and Deepshikha Sikarwar. Edited excerpts:
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What is the big vision behind this budget? How does it help the country move closer to the Viksit Bharat goal?
First, the theme is continuity. There is a continued focus on capital investment, fiscal prudence, and macroeconomic stability. If you're running a marathon, you must remain fit, and India is running a marathon towards 2047. The incremental change which has come is a strong focus on employment directly through fiscal incentives, indirectly, through encouragement of MSMEs, which are employment-intensive, and through an improvement of skills. Skilling will provide the way to match the rising demands for labour in industry. We maintain a strong focus on innovation, research and development, and self-sufficiency in high technology areas through investments in space, nuclear, alternative energy sources and new technologies.
After production-linked incentive schemes, now we have employment-linked incentive schemes. Will these schemes address the pressing issue of job creation?
We have given a strong incentive for employment. Does it mean that because of this alone a company will create jobs? Obviously not, no company will hire a person because the government is giving a subsidy. But will a tax deduction or a fiscal incentive lead to
