Demonetisation may lead to deflation: Assocham

Demonetisation may not help in achieving the desired result of ending the menace of black money, industry body Assocham said today, noting that it could take some five years to ensure a cashless society.
"The idea behind demonetisation is very good, but its implementation is flawed which can push GDP down by 1.5 to 2 per cent," Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said at a press conference here.
Besides, demonetisation could lead to deflation (negative inflation) where there will be plenty of goods but people will not have enough to buy, he said.
Rawat, who released a recent study titled 'Digital India to Robotic India', said up to 10 million jobs might be taken over by artificial intelligence or robots during the course of next five years owing to extreme technological developments taking place globally.

"The Union Government should integrate robotics as key components of its flagship 'Make in India' programme for attracting global manufacturers to set up their highly efficient and automated supply chain facilities in the country," he said.
The current industrial revolution globally is unfolding disruptive technologies in the form of automation, robotics, 3D printing, artificial intelligence and genomics and has started eating up jobs in large number and in India alone million of jobs are at stake in the next five years, the study noted.
Against this backdrop, Assocham felt there is an urgent need for fostering a partnership among government, industry and academia to equip people with the right skill sets.

"The Centre should create a national policy perspective for automation consisting of top level experts, representative of business, government and labour as it will set down the roadmap and guidelines to make this transition as painless as possible while assuring the stakeholders that the benefits will be widely and equitably shared," Rawat added.