In his Independence Day address from the Red Fort’s ramparts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi placed “manufacturing power” as the first among the seven Saptadhara streams that are to take India towards a Viksit Bharat. He also said this effort would fully harness the potential of India’s youth. The pertinent question is, which manufacturing sector can actually deliver jobs at the scale India needs?

Our research at ICRIER points to the textiles and apparel (T&A) sector. But first, why is creating jobs urgent? India’s growth story will have little meaning if it fails to create jobs for the masses, and that too in the formal sector. India had 61.6 crore employed persons aged more than 15 years (2025), but agriculture still accounted for 43 per cent of employment, compared with 12.1 per cent in manufacturing (PLFS 2025). Even a 1 percentage point shift in employment from agriculture to manufacturing would involve moving a large number of workers. The NDA had promised to create 2 crore jobs every year, but reality is nowhere near that. The recent student agitations over paper leaks reflected an underlying frustration: Even after acquiring a “three Rs” education, respectable jobs in the formal sector remain scarce. Unemployment among those aged 15-29 was 9.9 per cent, rising to 13.6 per cent in urban areas, while 25 per cent were neither in employment nor in education or training (PLFS 2025). Female labour force participation was 40 per cent, compared with 79.1 per cent for men.

A large share of India’s workforce remains in informal employment, without the........

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