Logistics to entail huge scope of investment for youth: MoS Chandrasekhar

Logistics will be an area full of opportunities for young students in the coming years with a huge scope for investment, entrepreneurship and employment, Union Minister of State for Skill Development Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Monday.

He was speaking at a conference on "Transforming Logistics for Coastal Economies" ahead of the third G20 Education Working Group meeting scheduled to be held from April 27 to 29 here.

"Logistics will be an area full of opportunities for young students in the coming years, as much as semiconductors, electronics, and information technology, with a huge scope for investment, entrepreneurship and employment.

"This is an interesting time for the world, representing opportunities and challenges and in this context, India has become the fastest growing nation of the world. And India is being looked upon by the world with a lot more respect," Chandrasekhar said.

The minister noted that the world is looking at resilient logistics and trusted supply chains, moving away from risk and towards trusted resilient economies.

"The focus and discussion on logistics are important in coastal states like Odisha. In 2014, 82 per cent of mobile phones consumed in India were imported. In 2022, almost 100 per cent mobile phones consumed in India are manufactured in India.

"In 2014, India used to export almost zero mobile phones and this year alone, India has exported Apple phones, Samsung phones made in India to the tune of about 11 billion dollars," he said.

"One of the arguments for India for many decades had been that India did not have a viable market and the capacity to become a global manufacturing hub as the logistics cost of doing business in India was not competitive. Today global majors are manufacturing semiconductors, electronics, mobiles and many more products in India, exporting and selling in India as well as the underlying logistics ecosystem has become more efficient," he added.

Chandrasekhar reiterated that the youth should focus on acquiring skills as much as receiving degrees to increase their employability prospects.

Foundation literacy and numeracy, tech-enabled learning, future of work and research collaboration are among the priority areas for deliberations during the third G20 Education Working Group meeting.

A conference on deep technology and transforming logistics for coastal economies, a workshop on the future of work and skill architecture, a seminar on building capacities for lifelong learning and an exhibition on future of work are part of the events which will be held as a precursor to the meeting.

The first meeting of the G20 Education Working Group was held in Chennai earlier this year, followed by the second meeting in Amritsar last month. There would be three supplementary meetings of the education group before it arrives at a consensus in June.