New Delhi: The Government has projected an increase in the total labour force of the country to 574 million by 2014-15, up from an estimated 520 million in 2009-10.
According to the Labour Ministry's Annual Report on Employment, an incremental workforce of 10 million is expected to be added in 2009-10 and 2010-11. In the next four years till 2014-15, however, the incremental addition is projected to be 11 million a year.
The report stressed on increasing investments in sectors such as road infrastructure and power through public-private partnerships, along with a push to labour-intensive manufacturing sectors, including food processing, textiles, garments, sugar and footwear. Service sectors such as tourism and retail trade should also be promoted, it said.

Surveys
The projection of labour force in the study has been done on the basis of trends observed between two rounds of NSSO surveys for the periods 1993-94 to 1999-2000 and 1999-2000 to 2004-05. The employment figures for 2009-10 are projected on the basis of employment elasticity with respect to GDP observed during the 1994-2005 period. Employment elasticity is defined as the rate of change of employment with respect to the rate of change of GDP.

“Projections for labour force and employment for 2009-10 were followed by a projection of the same for the period 2010-2015 on a yearly basis. This yielded the total magnitude of labour force increasing from 520 million in 2009-10 to 574 million in 2014-15,” it added.

The report further noted that a 2.5 per cent growth in employment is achievable with an economic growth of approximately 9 per cent, provided the average employment elasticity of 0.29 observed between 1993-94 and 2004-05 continues.

Bangalore: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which caters primarily to the armed forces, plans to upgrade and custom-makeits existing slew of biotech products for civilian use. The Life Sciences Cluster at the defence PSU will spend Rs 300 crore for the upgradation of biotech products such as intensive care units, ready-to-eat food products and clothing, which can be worn during nuclear biological chemical warfare. Some of this will be thrown open for civilian use as well, a top DRDO official told ET at the sidelines of ‘Bangalore India Bio 2010’.

“The products which are expected to come out in the next few years will be five times more efficient in terms of cost compared to the imported ones. We will be working in sync with private companies, helping them with technology, setting up assembly lines and aiding quality control,” said Dr VC Padaki, director, Defence BioEngineering and Electromedical Laboratory (DEBEL), one of the laboratories at DRDO.

“The Indian defence sector hopes to have biotech products worth around Rs 300-500 crore over the next few years,” added Mr Padaki.

Several companies have bagged contracts from DRDO to manufacture new products. Pricol, for instance, which manufactures and exports automotive parts, has won a DRDO project to develop critical-care ventilators. These ventilators, which are used in rural government hospitals, are 35% cheaper than the ICUs sold in the market.

“The Karnataka government is interested in buying these ventilators. We have sold it to the Kerala government and few corporate hospitals,” said J Purushothaman, a biomedical engineer working for Pricol Medical.

Companies such as Aeronav Industrial Safety Appliances have recently bagged an order to develop protective apparel for pilots. Some private companies are helping DRDO develop cost-effective indigenous Hapo (High Altitude Pulmonary Oedema) bags that will replace the imported ones used by people in the Ladakh sector.

“Our indigenous Hapo bag costs Rs 1 lakh while as imported bag costs more than Rs 10 lakh and the Army has placed an order for 3,000 of them,” said Mr Padaki of DRDO. SMEs and PSUs like Raksha Polycoats, Bengal Water Proof and Hindustan Metal Industries are also working with the DRDO.

Several small companies such as Bigtec Labs, located at the Entrepreneurship Centre (SID) at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), have benefited from this DRDO programme. Infact, Bigtec Labs recently received the technology to make laproscopic surgery simulators from the Society for Biomedical Technology established by DRDO.

“These simulation tools help surgeons train themselves on laproscopic surgery, instead of learning it on live patients. We are going to make 25 such simulators in the first year,” Bigtec director J Guru Dutt said. “The machine usually costs $40,000 while the indigenous version is expected to be 50% cheaper,” he added.

FDI rises by 5.6 per cent in May 2010
Source : IBEF
New Delhi: The foreign direct investment (FDI) in May 2010 for the country rose by 5.6 per cent to US$ 2.21 billion as compared to US$ 2.09 billion in the corresponding month in 2009.
"Quick estimates indicate the foreign fund inflows in May were up by 5.6 per cent," an official said.
D K Joshi, Chief Economist, CRISIL Ltd opined that the inflows are likely to remain healthy. "India remains a strong magnate due to its economic growth," he said.
A concept paper was initiated by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), proposing a hike in FDI cap of 26 per cent in the defence sector. Besides, similar papers on agriculture, multi-brand retail, and pharmaceutical are expected according to sources.
The government has also taken initiatives to streamline the procedures for foreign investors.