It seems we can. The biggest salvation in 2014 will be in employment-intensive domestic consumption as GDP growth returns to 5.5 percent
January gets its name from Greek God Janus who has two faces; one looking forward and the other looking back. Since it is that time of the year, and given that job creation is India’s most important challenge, it is as good an opportunity as any to reflect on 2013 and look ahead at 2014.
The only good thing about 2013 from an employment perspective is that it is over. As for 2014, I would like to make the case that, independent of election outcomes, the next year will be much better for job creation. It will be a cyclical employment upturn—rather than the structural one India needs—but an upturn it will be for sure.
But 2015 will return to the employment famine of 2013 unless the new government tackles the structural barriers to massive job creation.
(This story appears in the 10 January, 2014 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)