A new study by Exim Bank has found that around 15 per cent of total jobs including both IT, BPO and material goods such as garments in India are related to India’s exports sector. The total number of jobs supported by aggregate Indian exports registered an increase from about 34 million in 1999-2000 to 62.6 million in 2012-13 with a growth rate of 3.4 per cent per annum. This is higher than the pace at which India, as a whole, has been able to increase employment opportunities for its citizens.

The report says employment growth has been sluggish despite India’s fast economic growth since the 1990s. The key drivers of jobs exports growth has been the garments & textiles, gems & jewellery, cotton textiles, communication and electronic equipment, motor vehicles, food products, metal products and leather footwear sectors. While the total exports from India to other countries is around $25 billion per month or about $300 billion per year, the total GDP of India is around 1.8 trillion. This translates to a share of around 17 per cent in total GDP and indicates that the contribution of exports to total employment is around the same as its share in the total organised economy.

However, the study pointed out that the share of exports in total economy is increasing every year. Almost half of the export-related jobs are indirect. This means that they are created at the level of vendors and partners of exporters. Indirect job creation increased significantly in recent years from 38 per cent in 2007-08 to 50 per cent in 2012-13.

Backward linkages, particularly from manufacturing to agriculture and services, have become an important source of export related job creation in the country, it said. The study identified manufacturing to be the one with the largest potential to generate employment, both directly as well as in agriculture and services through backward linkage effects.