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Industry applauds skilling, employment schemes in Union Budget

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The latest Economic Survey indicated that a large portion of India’s youth were unemployable as they lacked the necessary skills that industry requires—a probable reason for the challenging jobless rate in the country. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman set out to address these issues in her Budget by earmarking Rs 1.48 lakh crore for education, employment, and skilling.

Applauding the massive outlay and plan, Hero Vired Founder and CEO Akshay Munjal said, “Amid growing concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on job creation, the substantial allocation for these sectors demonstrates a significant commitment to developing India’s human capital.”

Sitharaman also announced a package of five schemes and initiatives aimed at facilitating employment, skilling, and other opportunities for 4.1 crore youth over a five-year period, with an allocation of Rs 2 lakh crore.

She highlighted three 2-year schemes for ‘Employment Linked Incentive’, focusing on first-timers, job creation in manufacturing, and supporting employers.

The first scheme, focusing on first-timers, will provide one-month wage to those newly entering the workforce in all formal sectors, the FM said. The direct benefit transfer of one month salary in three instalments to first-time employees as registered in the EPFO will be up to Rs 15,000.

With an eligibility limit of a salary of Rs 1 lakh per month, the scheme is expected to benefit 210 lakh youth.

“The wage subsidy for the employees and the support to the employers shall encourage employers to hire fresh candidates for their organisations, whereas the linkage to EPFO registration shall help the cause of formalisation of jobs in the country,” Shantanu Rooj, Founder and CEO of TeamLease Edtech, told YourStory.

The second scheme, looking to incentivise additional employment in the manufacturing sector, aims to benefit 30 lakh youth entering the workforce and their employers.

The third scheme, focused on employers, will cover additional employment in all sectors and is expected to incentivise additional employment of 50 lakh persons.

“All additional employment within a salary of Rs 1 lakh per month will be counted. The government will reimburse employers up to Rs 3,000 per month for two years towards their EPFO contribution for each additional employee,” the FM added.

The Budget also announced a new centrally-sponsored scheme in collaboration with state governments and industry, which would skill about 20 lakh youth in five years. 

Moreover, the government will upgrade 1,000 industrial training institutes (ITIs) in the hub and spoke arrangements, and will align the course content to industry needs and introduce new courses for emerging needs.

TeamLease Edtech’s Rooj emphasised that the government should implement the same initiative in all ITIs in India—which play an important role in skilling the youth in several relevant vocational skills—and not limit it to the identified 1,000.

Besides the above schemes, the government will launch a comprehensive scheme to provide internship opportunities in 500 top companies to one crore youth in five years. 

Again, Rooj said the government should allow all employers to benefit from the scheme and not limit it to the top 500 employers only. 

“An internship allowance of Rs 5,000 per month, along with a one-time assistance of Rs 6,000 will be provided. Companies will be expected to bear the training cost and 10% of the internship cost from their CSR funds,” the Finance Minister said.

Mayank Kumar, Co-founder and MD of upGrad, believes the internship scheme will bridge the industry-academia gap and enhance employability, empowering India’s youth with the opportunities to bridge the talent supply demand across global jobs. 

On the loans front, Sitharaman announced financial support for loans of up to Rs 10 lakh for higher education in domestic institutions. “E-vouchers for this purpose will be given directly to 1 lakh students every year for annual interest subvention of 3% of the loan amount,” she explained.

Moreover, the Model Skill Loan Scheme will be revised to facilitate loans up to Rs 7.5 lakh with a guarantee from a government-promoted fund. It is expected to help 25,000 students every year.

“With such bold commitments towards jobs, skilling, and employment, Budget 2024-25 ignites a talent revolution in India, poised to propel the nation’s youth to global leadership,” upGrad’s Kumar added.

According to a report by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), with 1.4 billion population, India provisionally created 46.7 million jobs in FY23-24, taking the nation’s total employment to 643.3 million. India’s employment growth rate was at 6% in FY23-24 compared to 3.2% in the earlier period.





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Magenta Mobility’s FY24 revenue rises three fold, losses widen by 17.1%

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Magenta Mobility on Thursday reported a 199.5% jump in its full-year revenue to Rs 35.53 crore compared to Rs 11.86 crore in the previous year helped by a significant rise in its revenue from services.

The company provides a 100% electric fleet and AI and IoT-enabled fleet management and data analytics platform to optimise logistics operations and deliveries. Revenue from these services for the year ended March 31, 2024, increased to Rs 30.17 crore compared to Rs 10.15 crore in FY23.

However, the company reported a 17.1% increase in its loss for the period to Rs 46.44 crore as opposed to Rs 39.66 crore in FY23, bogged down by rising expenses during the year. The 109.1% rise in expenses to Rs 90.17 crore was primarily due to rising driver costs, employee benefit expenses, and finance costs.

Magenta Mobility appoints drivers on a contract basis to provide services to its customers, which it accounts as an expense. The drivers’ cost for FY24 increased to Rs 18.49 crore, compared to Rs 6.34 crore in FY23.

The rise in demand for the company’s fleet comes amidst a boom in the last-mile delivery sector in India owing to the rise of ecommerce and quick commerce players. Magenta Mobility caters to clients such as Flipkart and hyper-local delivery platform Dunzo, among others.

Founded in 2017 by Maxson Lewis and Darryl Dias, the company last raised $22 million in a Series A funding round from BP Venture and Morgan Stanley India Infrastructure-managed investment fund.





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Juspay cuts losses by 7.7% as revenue surges 49.6% in FY24

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Payments startup Juspay Technologies saw its losses narrowing in FY24 as revenue growth outpaced expenditure. It narrowed its total loss for the period to Rs 97.54 crore, down 7.76% from Rs 105.75 crore in FY23.

According to the consolidated financial statements accessed from the Registrar of Companies, the SoftBank-backed fintech firm’s revenue from operations surged 49.64% to Rs 319.32 crore, up from Rs 213.39 crore in FY23.

Juspay’s primary revenue source—payment platform integration fees—brought in Rs 286.52 crore. Additional operating revenue from services like product implementation and support added Rs 32.80 crore.

Total expenses rose by 29.52% to Rs 443.74 crore in FY24, compared to Rs 342.59 crore in the previous year. This increase was largely driven by employee benefit expenses, which saw a 41.73% jump to Rs 303.36 crore, while other expenses increased slightly over 3.56% to Rs 123.76 crore.

Juspay, founded in 2012 by Vimal Kumar and Ramanathan RV in Bengaluru, specialises in developing payment orchestration solutions that act as a technology layer over traditional payment gateways.

The Accel-backed startup has also developed Namma Yatri, a mobility app focusing on ride-hailing services, leveraging Juspay’s strengths in payments and open-source protocols. Namma Yatri is built on the Beckn Protocol and aligns with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), aiming to provide low-cost ride-hailing options and open access to digital mobility services.

Recently, Juspay decided to spin off Namma Yatri as an independent entity to attract separate investors and scale further. In February, the company said it acquired LotusPay in an all-cash deal to strengthen its offerings to the BFSI segment and merchants.

LotusPay, founded in 2016, pioneered NACH Debit technology with cloud-based software for merchants and banks. Using NPCI’s NACH Debit, it facilitates recurring payments for loans, insurance, and subscriptions.





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Flipkart selects five startups for third cohort of Flipkart Leap Innovation Network

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Flipkart has selected five innovative startups for the third cohort of its flagship startup accelerator programme, Flipkart Leap Innovation Network (FLIN).

The cohort is introducing startups that are driving advancements across GenAI, omnichannel, analytics, and video commerce, the company said in a statement.

The selected startups— Intelligence Node, Invenzo Labs, StoryBrain, Phyllo, and D-ID— are set to run pilot programs with Flipkart to develop solutions.

“The selected startups get access to mentorship, resources, and the opportunity to execute pilot projects within the Flipkart ecosystem, scaling their solutions to meet the demands of India’s digital economy and e-commerce growth,” the company said.

Since its launch in 2022, the accelerator programme aims to accelerate the growth of the startup ecosystem in India, driving collaboration, and championing cutting-edge retail innovations. 

“Through the FLIN programme, Flipkart continues to expand its role as a catalyst for innovation within India’s startup ecosystem, providing a collaborative platform for startups to test, refine, and deploy solutions that can shape the future of e-commerce in India,” said Naren Ravula, Vice President and Head – Product Strategy and Flipkart Labs.

The programme is designed to engage with startups through commercial partnerships in Flipkart’s areas of interest. Successful startups get the opportunity to scale up to a business partnership.

Over 20 startups from the initial two cohorts have concluded pilots working closely with the Flipkart Product and Engineering teams.

The company added that four startups from the previous cohort— Anagog, Speedsize, Sangti, and Vtion— have recently concluded successful pilot projects with Flipkart.





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