Gujarat ranks 6th in creating jobs in state-owned firms

Gujarat, which made the highest investment among states in public enterprises, is ranked sixth in terms of generating employment in these units, a survey says. Andhra Pradesh, which topped the list of 10 states for generating jobs in the State Level Public Enterprises (SLPEs), was the fourth-largest investor.

According to a National Survey on SLPEs, investments and employment do not go hand-in-hand in SLPEs. Andhra Pradesh generated jobs for 2,650,81 people as on March 31, 2007, in its SLPEs, while its investment in these units was Rs 32,993 crore, far less than Rs 46,169 crore invested in the Gujarat units.

Likewise, Tamil Nadu, which ranked ninth in terms of investments in SLPEs, turned out to be the second-best employer in terms of jobs in the SLPEs, according to the survey. In all, 837 SLPEs with a total investment of Rs 3,33,441 crore generated an aggregate employment for 18 lakh employees as per the data collated up to March 2007.

The SLPEs have been operating in areas such as mining, public distribution/trading and marketing, warehousing, tourism, handicrafts and handloom development, forest and fisheries development, financial services and housing.