New Delhi: Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) data shows 3,32,394 new jobs were created over the last four years in one lakh Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) annulling all the allegation by the opposition over unemployment. The survey shows an increase of 3.3 percent per year in these years and it is expected that this growth will continue over the next three years. The total workforce size according to the labor bureau is estimated at 450 million (2017-18), the overall job additions are around 13.5 – 14.9 million per annum.  

According to the survey, the states which showed the highest growth in job production are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana. These states also emerged as the top three states in the exporter's list. Hospitality and tourism, textiles and apparel and metal products became the major employment generating sectors. 

Rakesh Bharti Mittal, president, CII said “The survey has indeed thrown up the most promising outcomes. There is a very healthy growth in employment among the MSME segment of the industry and with the kind of disruptions and innovations that are likely to sweep through the industry in terms of new technologies and practices, our skills development front is also undergoing rapid changes.” 

Another survey by Small and Medium Enterprises forum recorded high rates of job creation in the MSME sector. Their survey showed 2.46 lakh job creation since demonetization and Goods and Service Tax (GST) came in to force.  The survey also recorded that the implementation of GST is welcomed by the MSME sectors although demonetization has led to job losses initially in a few sectors.