PM Modi announces ₹1 lakh-crore scheme to create 35 million private jobs

NEw new delhi: ground government minister Narendra Modi on fri proclaimed a ₹1 lakh-crore scheme for new job seekers in his 12th consecutive Independence Day address from the Red Fort, which focused squarely on the need for more self-reliance and local manufacturing to cope with the “rising economic selfishness” in the world.The Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rojgar Yojana will provide a one-time incentive of ₹15,000 to first-time private-sector job seekers, targeting approximately 35 million beneficiaries, Modi said.The stress on the economy comes against the backdrop of the United States President Donald Trump’s decision to impose a 50% tariff rate on India — much higher than on its neighbours and peers — which disadvantages exports and could hurt nearly one per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product, according to some analysts.Local manufacturing will add jobs to the economy, he said, urging a boost to building everything from fertilisers and jets to Electric Vehicle (EV) batteries. “Today, I bring good news for the youth of our country. From today, under the PM Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana, our sons and daughters getting their first job in the private sector will be given ₹15,000,” he said.Also Read: ‘Mini India’: People from all walks of life converge at Red Fort to celebrate I-DayThe PM stressed that this initiative would transform India’s demographic potential into real economic and social prosperity, strengthening the bridge from “Swatantra Bharat to Samriddha Bharat (free India to a prosperous one)” and empowering the youth to “actively contribute to the nation’s progress and development”.Modi outlined new economic and security initiatives, including a Goods and Services Tax (GST) overhaul, indigenous semiconductor production, and Mission Sudarshan Chakra, which is aimed at safeguarding strategic and public sites.On July 1, the union cabinet chaired by Modi approved the much-awaited Employment-Linked Incentive (ELI) scheme proposed in the 2024-25 Budget. It will offer fresh recruits in private-sector jobs a month’s wages, while firms hiring them will get financial incentives — steps aimed at boosting job opportunities and enhancing skills of working-age people.The sops, aimed at creating 35 million new jobs in two years, will provide direct financial benefits of up to ₹15,000 in two instalments to 19.2 million first-time employees.Also read: Women are both driving, shaping India’s economic growth: PM Modi on Independence DayAccording to the government’s Economic Survey 2024, India needs to create 7.85 million non-farm jobs every year until 2030 to absorb its expanding labour force — a number far higher than the current rate of employment generation.While one part of the scheme deals with one-off payments of a month’s wages as direct benefit transfer to all first-time employees entering the workforce in formal sectors (up to a salary ceiling of ₹1 lakh), the second component is aimed at contributing a share of salaries.The scheme has been designed to calculate a baseline of employee strength. Firms with fewer than 50 employees will need to hire two additional staffers to be eligible for the incentives.Employers with more than 50 workers will need to add five new employees to their payrolls. All employees must be registered with the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), the state-backed retirement-income manager, according to the statement.Also Read: Modi outlines vision centered around self-reliance, defence, pledges simpler GSTAccording to the scheme’s details, for new employees with a provident-fund base wage of ₹10,000, the incentive for hirers will be ₹1,000. For those in the base wage slab between ₹10,000 and ₹20,000, the incentive will be ₹2,000. For salaries between ₹20,000 and ₹1 lakh, the benefit will be ₹3,000.The scheme will offer incentives tied to EPFO contributions to both employers and first-time employees in the manufacturing sector, in the form of funds linked to a specified pay scale for the period during which the plan will be in force. The benefits will apply to jobs created between 1 August 2025 and 31 July 2027.