NMCC commissioned the study called Labor Intensity and Employment Potential of Indian Manufacturing to ICRIER. The findings of the study which are based on both secondary data and primary survey give a fairly dismal picture of the employment aspect of our manufacturing growth in organized manufacturing sector over the period 1990-91 to 2003-04. For the 31 identified labor intensive industries, the study has documented industrial performance in terms of the employment growth, labor productivity and real wages growth as well as employment elasticity and capital productivity for the period 1990-91 to 2003-04.  

The study observed an average employment growth of 4.1 percent per annum for the labour-intensive sectors during the observed period. However, in most industries, employment growth worsened in the second half of 1990s and improved in the early years of this century.  

In the second part of the study, five sectors have been chosen based on the importance in terms of export potential in the world markets and their industrial performance during the reference period. These are sports goods, apparel, leather, bicycles and gem & Jewellery industries. The aim of the study was to determine what factors constrain the employment generation in these labor intensive industries.  

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