New Delhi, Oct 28 (UNI) BVR Subrahmanyam, CEO of NITI Aayog, today launched two inaugural reports under the ‘Services Thematic Series’ which are one of the first dedicated assessments of services sector from the macro lens of output and employment.
The first report is ‘India’s Services Sector: Insights from GVA Trends and State-Level Dynamics, ’ examines national and state-level trends to understand how services-led growth is unfolding across regions and whether states with lower initial shares in services are catching up with more advanced ones, which is an important indicator of balanced regional development.
The report said that the services sector has become the cornerstone of India’s economic growth, contributing nearly 55pc of national GVA in 2024-25. It also noted that the spread of services-led growth is becoming more regionally balanced.
On the other hand, inter-state disparities in the services sector shares have modestly widened, which is clear evidence that structurally lagging states are beginning to catch up. This emerging pattern of convergence suggests that India’s services-led transformation is gradually becoming more broad-based and spatially inclusive.
Highlighting the sectoral level trends, the report recommends prioritisation of digital infrastructure, logistics, innovation, finance, and skilling to accelerate diversification and transformation.
Moreover, at the state level, it recommends developing tailored service strategies based on local strength, improving institutional capacity, integrating services with industrial ecosystems, and scaling up urban and regional service clusters.
Another report titled ‘ India’s Services Sector: Insights from Employment Trends and State-Level Dynamics’ examines services sector employment to present a multi-dimensional view of India’s services workforce across sub-sectors, gender, regions, education, and occupations.
This report goes beyond aggregate trends to reveal the sector’s dual character, which is modern and high-productivity segments that are globally competitive yet limited in employment intensity, and traditional segments that absorb a large number of workers but remain predominantly informal and low-paying.
The report highlighted that while services remain the mainstay in India’s employment growth and post-pandemic recovery, challenges still persist.
Employment generation is uneven across sub-sectors, informality remains widespread and job quality continues to lag behind output growth. Basically, Gender gaps, rural-urban divides and regional disparities underline the need for an employment strategy that integrates formalisation, inclusion and productivity enhancement at its core.
To bridge this gap, the report outlined a four-part policy roadmap focusing on formalisation and social protection for gig, social protection and MSME workers, targeted skilling, and digital access to expand opportunities for women and rural youth.
It also suggests investment in emerging and green economy skills and balanced regional development through service hubs in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.
By positioning the services sector as a purposeful driver of productive, high-quality, and inclusive jobs, the report underscores its centrality to India’s employment transition and its pivotal role in realising the vision of Viksit Bharat @ 2047, the report added.
