India’s economy, the fastest-growing major economy in the world, isn’t running smoothly.Narendra Modi faces an issue with that, as he recently secured a third consecutive five-year term as prime minister—albeit without a simple majority.The 73-year-old’s goal is for the nation’s economy to reach $5 trillion by the end of this decade. His election victory was closer than anticipated, which has complicated his ambitions for transformation, and there are significant obstacles ahead.One entrenched problem standing in the way of India’s superpower ambitions is the lack of jobs for hundreds of millions of citizens, particularly women.
There are over 460 million women of working age in India — more than the entire population of the European Union — and they are more educated, aspirational and healthier than any previous generation.But their dreams are clashing against a harsh reality.Take Gunasri Tamilselvan, 22, who fears having to quit the job that she loves.The engineering graduate started working at Finnish electronics manufacturer Salcomp’s factory in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu last year. Tamilselvan is part of a sought-after team making mobile chargers for major smartphone brands, but she has had to fight both at home and at work for her right to be financially independent.
And now, she is running out of time. Her family wants to arrange a marriage for her as soon as possible. In South Asia, it is still a norm for parents find spouses for their children.“My father has not been very comfortable with my work,” she told CNN. “He has given me 10 months, after which he will choose a husband for me and get me married.” If that happens, she would then have to negotiate with her husband and in-laws to continue working. It’s not the only battle she wants to win.
At the factory, she says she often works much harder to prove to her male colleagues that she deserves her place in the automation department, which involves dealing with the latest machinery. Only about one-third of India’s working age women are active in the labor force, according to the World Bank, much lower than the global average of around 50%. As a result, the country is missing out on billions of dollars. The World Bank said in 2018 that India could boost its rate of economic growth to 9% per year if around 50% of women were in the work force. (The economy grew by 8.2% in the fiscal year that ended in March.)During Modi’s 10 years in power, India has jumped four spots to become the world’s fifth largest economy, and analysts are confident that his government can turn the country into an economic superpower, behind only the United States and China by 2027.
This historic opportunity for India comes at a time when China is struggling with an unprecedented economic slump, and the world is looking for a new growth engine. Western manufacturers are also keen to diversify their supply chains. But there are also fears that India might miss out. According to McKinsey, the contribution of women to India’s GDP is only 18%, one of the lowest proportions in the world. This is in stark contrast with China, where for several decades, women have been powerful players in the economic boom.
Job creation, particularly for women, is “literally an unspoken emergency” in the country, said Chandrasekhar Sripada, a professor at the Indian School of Business, adding that “the problem is so humongous that there are no magic solutions and silver bullets.”Much of this change is visible in Tamil Nadu, India’s industrial powerhouse where companies such as Foxconn and Samsung have manufacturing plants.
Over 40% of India’s female factory employees work in the southern state, said Vishnu Venugopalan, chief executive of Guidance Tamil Nadu, the state’s investment promotion agency.
India’s most valuable conglomerate, the 156-year-old salt-to-software Tata Group, is also trying to improve diversity at its various manufacturing plants across India. One of its units, Tata Power, has built a new solar cell and module factory where 80% of the workers are women. Deepesh Nanda, the president of renewables at Tata Power, told CNN that while it can be difficult at times to improve diversity in an “existing setup,” having a “clean slate” helped the company set a benchmark.India may not be able to set up such gigantic facilities. “It is difficult to replicate the Chinese model fully as their scale is massive,” said Roy. “That kind of land acquisition is not easy in India.”
The dormitory culture may not take off in a big way for other reasons too. “Migration is painful,” said Sripada. “We should plan for less migration. We should plan for more decentralized economy.” Tamil Nadu says it has done exactly that, which is part of the reason why it has so many women in its workforce. “The manufacturing clusters in the state are not just in large cities,” said Venugopalan. “There’s a fair amount of distribution regionally, which means you don’t need to look at large scale migration of people into one single growth center.”
