Overview
The Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India, V. Anantha Nageswaran launched a privately authored white paper titled AI, Automation and India’s Workforce: Who Gains, Who’s Exposed, and How Policy Can Shape the Future. The study was prepared by Vidya Mahambare (Centre for Finance and Economics Research, Great Lakes Institute of Management), Vivek Jadhav (Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad) and Vishnu Venugopalan (Additional Secretary to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister). It examines how AI and automation are reshaping Indian employment.
Key Developments
- Share of jobs exposed to AI rose modestly from 2012 to 2025, with a higher quality of exposure.
- Only 8% of employed persons were in occupations with realistic AI complementarity by 2025.
- Ratio of substitution pressure to complementary work fell, yet substitution still exceeds complementarity by about 50%.
- Routine jobs facing automation pressure grew by 4.8 percentage points between 2012 and 2025.
- Southern states lead in AI exposure quantity (average 30.9% of jobs), while several central and eastern states lag behind (16.8‑20%).
Important Facts
India has 46.3 million workers in AI complementary occupations, compared with 52.5 million in the United States and 20.9 million in Russia. Exposure is highest among younger workers: about 29% of those aged 25‑34 are in AI‑exposed jobs, versus roughly 19% of those aged 55‑64. The five southern states record the highest share of AI‑exposed occupations, whereas states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh sit at the lower end.
Exam Relevance
This paper touches on several GS‑3 themes: labour market dynamics, technology‑driven productivity, and policy formulation for inclusive growth. Understanding CEA roles and the methodology of a white paper helps aspirants answer questions on economic planning, skill‑development programmes, and the impact of emerging technologies on employment.
Way Forward
Policymakers need to (i) expand skill‑upgradation schemes targeting AI‑complementary roles, especially for the 55‑64 age group; (ii) incentivise industries in lagging states to adopt AI responsibly, balancing automation with job creation; (iii) strengthen social security for workers under high substitution pressure; and (iv) promote research on AI‑human collaboration to raise the share of complementary work. Continuous monitoring of AI exposure trends will guide future labour‑market reforms.