The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Sunday urged the government to introduce targeted measures in the FY26 Union Budget to drive large-scale employment generation, leveraging India’s demographic advantage. Highlighting the need to productively engage the world’s largest youth population, the industry body proposed a seven-point agenda to create jobs and boost inclusive growth.

Key recommendations include developing an integrated national employment policy to unify existing job creation schemes across ministries and states. CII also suggested strengthening the National Career Service (NCS) portal as a central database for employment-related initiatives.

With India set to add 133 million people to its workforce by 2050, CII proposed innovative steps such as launching rural internship programs for college-educated youth. These internships, aimed at bridging the gap between education and professional skills, would provide short-term job opportunities while supporting the implementation of rural government programs.

To incentivize job creation, CII recommended introducing a new income tax provision under Chapter VIA, replacing Section 80JJAA, applicable even in concessional tax regimes. The organization also emphasized the need for initiatives to increase female workforce participation, suggesting dormitory construction using CSR funds, formalizing the care economy, and establishing government-supported creches in industrial clusters.

Further, CII called for the rollout of labour codes with social security coverage for gig and platform workers and proposed creating an international mobility authority under the Ministry of External Affairs. This authority would facilitate overseas employment opportunities through government-to-government collaborations and align skill development programs with global market demands, incorporating technical, cultural, and language training.

CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee stressed the importance of improving productivity alongside employment. He proposed setting up an expert committee to address India’s high Incremental Capital Output Ratio (ICOR) of 4.1, ensuring efficient use of resources to sustain economic growth.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Sunday urged the government to introduce targeted measures in the FY26 Union Budget to drive large-scale employment generation, leveraging India’s demographic advantage. Highlighting the need to productively engage the world’s largest youth population, the industry body proposed a seven-point agenda to create jobs and boost inclusive growth.

Key recommendations include developing an integrated national employment policy to unify existing job creation schemes across ministries and states. CII also suggested strengthening the National Career Service (NCS) portal as a central database for employment-related initiatives.

With India set to add 133 million people to its workforce by 2050, CII proposed innovative steps such as launching rural internship programs for college-educated youth. These internships, aimed at bridging the gap between education and professional skills, would provide short-term job opportunities while supporting the implementation of rural government programs.

To incentivize job creation, CII recommended introducing a new income tax provision under Chapter VIA, replacing Section 80JJAA, applicable even in concessional tax regimes. The organization also emphasized the need for initiatives to increase female workforce participation, suggesting dormitory construction using CSR funds, formalizing the care economy, and establishing government-supported creches in industrial clusters.

Further, CII called for the rollout of labour codes with social security coverage for gig and platform workers and proposed creating an international mobility authority under the Ministry of External Affairs. This authority would facilitate overseas employment opportunities through government-to-government collaborations and align skill development programs with global market demands, incorporating technical, cultural, and language training.

CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee stressed the importance of improving productivity alongside employment. He proposed setting up an expert committee to address India’s high Incremental Capital Output Ratio (ICOR) of 4.1, ensuring efficient use of resources to sustain economic growth.