30 years ago in India Today

A Jaguar without teeth? (May 1-15, 1980) Like the mythological, multi-headed Hydra, the Rs 1,500-crore Jaguar deal keeps growing an extra head as soon as one is chopped off. India's largest-ever defence purchase has attracted more verbal flak than any other comparable acquisition. Last fortnight, the Jaguar threatened to resurrect yet another flurry of controversy following murmurs of discontent from people actually involved in the operation of the aircraft. And, though the murmurs were characteristically muted, the implications were serious enough. Informed sources have made the alarming claim that 18 months after the original deal was signed, the aircraft supplied to India is totally non-operational for combat purposes. The sources have claimed that the aircraft's manufacturers, British Aerospace, are yet to supply the promised and muchpublicised armaments for the Jaguar. The sources also insist that they have faced considerable teething problems with the aircraft.

jobs are back...don't worry about reccesion that become history

India seems to be in the pink of health. The blush is not one of pink slips, but of economic growth. After the global financial meltdown of October 2008, the economy is back on track. Even as the world economy is struggling to come out of recession, Indian consumers are splurging on cars and consumer goods. And to meet this growth in demand, companies are now investing heavily.

A majority of jobs in the manufacturing sector will be created by the automobile and consumer durables industries.

Not surprisingly, the job market is revving up too. Expected to invest $250 billion over the next three years, corporate India's confidence is back. Believe it or not, close to a million new jobs will be added by the organised sector in 2010-11, an increase of nearly 10 per cent over 2007, a watershed year of sorts for the job market.

The INDIA TODAY-Ma Foi Employment Trends Survey put 11 hot sectors under the scanner to understand how many jobs will be added in 2010 and the top cities that will witness the most job creation.

In order to understand trends and hiring plans, 1,000 companies have been quizzed, across all major industry segments, geographical areas and size in the short and medium term. With economic growth expected to be in the 7 to 8 per cent range, India Inc will create 9,17,000 new jobs in 2010-11. This is a modest estimate, which may well change going forward.

"The demand from the client side is back,especially for front level employees. I see an increase of 60-70 per cent in hiring over last year." NIMESH JAIN, VP (India Operations), 24/7 Customer "With an increase in rural consumption, the FMCG sector is growing at 30-35 per cent. Therefore, there is a need to recruit good talent." SCHAUNA CHAUHAN, CEO, Parle Agro

According to a quarterly survey done by international recruitment firm Antal on hiring and firing, about 71 per cent of Indian organisations are hiring in 2010 and 78 per cent are likely to hire managerial staff over the next three months.

No wonder, Indians are the most optimistic people in the world. The optimism is not based on state-sponsored steroids, but domestic demand. Indians believe that they will get better jobs and salary increases this year. Almost as if on cue, the output of India's factories has been steadily rising in the last two quarters, anticipating an increase in consumption. The index for industrial production has risen 16.8 per cent from a year earlier in January, after expanding by 11.8 per cent in November last year.

Demand for consumer durables, automobiles and telecom services has kept the wheels of Indian manufacturing turning, despite the global slowdown. With an annual production of 2.3 million units, the Indian automobile industry is the ninth largest in the world. Players like Maruti Suzuki and Samsung are expanding their manufacturing capacities and manpower base this year.

Immune to recession, the healthcare industry is growing at 15 per cent

The good news does not end there. With a high saving rate of 33 per cent, low urbanisation levels and a young population, India will consume a lot more than all other economies and this will sustain growth in the labour force, capital stock and productivity over the next decade, says Credit Suisse, and the per capita income will triple from $1,050 to $3,400 by 2019.

Even as a consumption economy, India has a lot of catching up to do. While the US consumes $10 trillion worth of goods and services, China consumes $1.4 trillion. India's consumption is a mere $700 billion, leaving enough headroom for growth, says Anand Sudarshan, chief executive officer and managing director, Manipal Education.

Global think tanks expect India to be among the best performing economies in the new decade. The country is expected to be a $4-trillion economy by 2019.