Maharashtra inches ahead of Indian states in pace of job creation: Fadnavis

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said Friday the state was leading in the country in terms of job creation, as shown by the data released by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). Maharashtra accounted for the highest number of EPFO accounts opened in the country last year, he said. He was addressing `Youth Empowerment Summit' organised by the Fortune Foundation here. "As per the statistics released by the EPFO on January 2, about 80 lakh new EPFO accounts were opened in the last year, and Maharashtra had the largest share, with 25 per cent of these accounts being opened in the state," he said.

This shows a huge number of jobs were created in the state last year, he claimed. The chief minister admitted that unemployment is a major issue as the country has a huge young population, but "a lot of job opportunities are being generated in our economy." China was the fastest-growing economy earlier but in last three years India has left it behind, Fadnavis said. "However, we see a relative gap between jobs created and those seeking jobs. On one side we see many job-seekers and on the other side we see job opportunities but we do not see anyone connect this two requirement," the chief minister said.

(With inputs from agencies.)