300,000 new jobs will be created in India's solar and wind energy sectors, ILO reports
India’s solar and wind-energy sectors will employ more than 300,000 workers by 2022, finds the ILO.
The report by the UN labor agency states that 24 million new job opportunities will be created globally by 2030, thereby offsetting the six million job losses forecast from the decline in traditional industries.
In India, the goal has been set to generate half of its total electricity production from renewable sources by 2022. Whilst 80% of its electricity currently still relies on coal, oil, and natural gas, this is an ambitious target.
Indeed, in their IZA World of Labor article, The labor market in India since the 1990s, IZA authors Indraneel Dasgupta and Saibal Kar find that the industrial sector, comprising mining, manufacturing, construction, gas, and electricity, has steadily increased since 1951 when it accounted for 11% of employment compared to 25% in 2012.
Surveys of solar and wind companies conducted by the ILO report find, however, that the country is rapidly expanding its renewable energy sources and over 300,000 workers will be employed in these sectors to meet the 2022 target.
IZA author Nico Pestel, in his article Employment effects of green energy policies, writes that "a policy shift toward a low-carbon green economy may create new and additional 'green jobs' in renewable energy sources and energy-efficiency technologies."
India has implemented several policies within its 12th Five-Year Plan to help make its environmental development target a reality. Several institutions have been established, including the Skills Council for Green Jobs in 2015, and private institutions have developed 70 training courses focused on achieving environmental sustainability.
Furthermore, the ILO stresses the importance of gender equality in creating sustainable human development and in a developing and emerging economy, like India’s, informal training plays a pivotal role in developing women’s skills. India has therefore set up initiatives such as the Barefoot College, which leads the way in training women in rural villages that have no electricity in solar engineering.
Read more articles on environmental regulation and the labor market.
For specific expertise on the labor market in India get in touch directly with Indraneel Dasgupta and Saibal Kar.