Over 20,000 youths placed through 119 job fairs in Ahmedabad in two years

Gandhinagar, Sep 9 Gujarat Labour and Employment Minister Balvantsinh Rajput informed the Assembly on Tuesday that 119 job fairs held in Ahmedabad district over the past two years have provided employment to more than 20,000 youths.

A total of 20,195 candidates secured placements through these fairs, he said.

Highlighting efforts to make opportunities more accessible, Rajput noted that the state government has launched the Anubandham web portal, inaugurated by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, allowing jobseekers to register online from home and enabling employers to post vacancies digitally.

Gujarat currently has 46 employment exchanges functioning under the Directorate of Employment and Training, offering services such as candidate registration, vacancy matching, career counselling, and job fairs.

In Ahmedabad, major recruiters at these fairs included iComet HR India Pvt Ltd, Tata Motors, Zydus Lifesciences Ltd, and Unison Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd, among others.

The minister further added that special job fairs were organised for marginalised groups: Seven fairs exclusively for Persons with Disabilities led to jobs for 278 candidates, while two dedicated fairs for women enabled 784 women to secure employment.

Gujarat has emerged as one of India’s strongest employment hubs, with consistently low unemployment and high workforce participation.

According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2023–24, the state recorded the second-lowest unemployment rate in the country, with a Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) of 52.9 per cent for those aged 15 and above, and an impressive 78.4 per cent for males.

The worker-population ratio is also robust across education levels — 52.6 per cent for higher secondary graduates, 67.3 per cent for postgraduates, and 81.9 per cent for male graduates in 2024.

Formal employment is being strengthened under initiatives like the Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana, which targets the creation of 35–40 lakh new jobs, formalisation of 20–25 lakh unorganised workers, and enrolment of 6–7 lakh women in key sectors such as manufacturing, textiles, construction, services, and IT.

Additionally, investment-driven growth is generating significant opportunities — 47 per cent of the pharmaceutical MoUs signed at Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024 have already been commissioned, creating over 20,000 jobs.

In 2023–24, Gujarat recorded the second-lowest unemployment rate in the country, according to the PLFS, and estimates for 2025 suggest the rate will fall further to just 1.7 per cent, well below the national average.

The state also stands out for strong workforce participation — its LFPR in July–September 2023 was 52.9 per cent for those aged 15 and above, among the highest in India, with male LFPR at 78.4 per cent and youth participation (ages 15–29) at 49.3 per cent, both the highest in the country.

Employment growth has been steady as well, between 2021 and 2022, jobs increased by nearly 800,000, taking total employment to a record 26.7 million, driven largely by salaried positions.

Manufacturing continues to anchor Gujarat’s economy, accounting for around 45 per cent of its output, with textiles and apparel, automobiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, and gems and jewellery serving as key employment-generating industries.

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