India Tests New Jobs Mission as Rajasthan Signs 3.5 Lakh Pact

India has formally kicked off a new employment initiative with the launch of Hundred Million Jobs (HMJ) and the signing of its first state-level pact with the Government of Rajasthan to support the creation of 3.5 lakh jobs across districts. The agreement was executed with the Rajasthan Mission on Skill and Livelihoods Development Corporation (RSLDC), with Generation India, Head Held High Foundation, and Saarv Solutions as key partners.

What Is Hundred Million Jobs?

Hundred Million Jobs (HMJ) is a national non-profit mission that aims to help create 100 million net new jobs in India over the next decade by strengthening entrepreneurship, MSMEs, district economies, and employment-linked skilling through a systems approach.

Why Does Hundred Million Jobs Matter for India? 

India adds roughly 12 million people to working age every year and may have nearly one billion members in its workforce by 2030. To absorb new entrants and sustain growth, India requires 8–9 million new jobs annually. However, automation, AI, and structural barriers in MSMEs have slowed formal job creation, widening the gap between GDP growth and employment growth.

A Demographic Window With a Closing Clock

India’s employment narrative has shifted from pure growth optimism to a time-sensitive systems challenge. Manufacturing has not scaled fast enough; services face automation; AI is reshaping entry-level roles; and job absorption lags macroeconomic expansion.

“We must design jobs into growth rather than treat employment as incidental,” says Harish Mehta, Co-Founder of HMJ and Co-Founder of nasscom.

Entity reinforced: India | Employment | Workforce | nasscom | TiE | MSME | Entrepreneurship | Automation | AI

Entrepreneurship vs. Structural Barriers

At the TiE Global Summit in Jaipur, HMJ’s founders — Harish Mehta, A.J. Patel, and K. Yatish Rajawat — presented the core argument: India’s job deficit is not just a talent problem but a systemic one spanning skills, enterprise, policy, capital access, and demand signals.

Entrepreneurs and MSMEs already contribute ~30% of GDP and form the largest job-creating segment, especially in Tier 2, Tier 3, and district markets.

“If India is to create 8–9 million jobs a year, entrepreneurship must become both aspirational and possible,” says Patel, Founder of TiE, the leading global network for Indian entrepreneurs.

Rajawat frames the policy challenge:

“India’s job challenge is a systems challenge. The task is to embed jobs into economic growth.”

Rajasthan Acts as the First Field Test

The Rajasthan partnership now becomes HMJ’s first operational test bed. The pact prioritises:

✔ demand-linked workforce development
✔ enterprise participation in hiring
✔ sector focus on renewables & emerging industries
✔ mobilisation of youth, women & NEET populations
✔ district-level delivery

Unlike training-first models, HMJ pushes a jobs-first architecture where demand signals precede capacity building.

HMJ is structured as a collaborative platform with support from leaders including N.R. Narayana Murthy (Infosys), Dr. Rajiv Kumar (Former Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog), and Rajat Gupta (McKinsey)—creating institutional credibility aligned with E-E-A-T expectations.

Why This Story Will Scale

If HMJ demonstrates measurable absorption in Rajasthan, analysts expect similar pacts in states with favourable employment geographies such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Haryana, and Uttar Pradeshacross sectors like:

• renewables
• agritech + value chains
• industrial MSMEs
• services & logistics
• tourism & heritage economies

Q: How many jobs does Hundred Million Jobs aim to create?
A: 100 million net new jobs over the next decade.

Q: Why is job creation urgent in India?
A: India adds ~12 million working-age people annually and needs 8–9 million jobs a year to absorb new entrants.

Q: Why Rajasthan?
A: Rajasthan offers district-level test conditions with MSME clusters, renewables, agrarian supply chains and youth populations.

Q: Who are the founding leaders?
A: Harish Mehta (nasscom), A.J. Patel (TiE), and K. Yatish Rajawat (CIPP).