‘Waiving Farm Loans Is Never the Right Step'

APOLLO HOSPITALS ENTERPRISE LIMITED Executive Vice Chairperson, Shobana Kamineni, who became the Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) new president on 4 May, believes that gender parity at all levels could give a shot in the arm to the gross domestic product (GDP). In an exclusive interview with Taniya Tikoo and Kshitiz Mohan, Kamineni shares her views on the GST, farm loans and what the CII is doing for the so-called Aam Admi of the country. 

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Kamineni feels that the 10 per cent growth in GDP is an achievable target and that a lot of jobs could be created in both the organised and unorganised sectors, with training in skills. The CII, she says, is not a lobbyist, but a development forum. Edited excerpts:

Q. India hopes to see its GDP growing at 10 per cent over the next three years. Which sectors are likely to witness the highest growth in jobs when that happens?

We have a three-year horizon on that. The number one sector that I have enumerated is the construction sector. In country after country, that is the sector that provides less skills and enough paying jobs.

As you move up the value chain, it would be retail, logistics, e-commerce,tourism and healthcare. I would not be surprised to see beauty and wellness in that list. These sectors will provide a large number of jobs across the country.

A large number of jobs will be created in developing content, social media and language-specific domains. These are all unorganised sector jobs. Basically, jobs will be created where we get better skilling.

So while we think there are a lot of opportunities for jobs, it won’t happen if we don’t have talent. We need to build capacity.

Q. Do you see waiving farm loans as the right step? It is never the right step.