New Delhi: Ten central trade unions will go on a nationwide General Strike on Wednesday protesting against Narendra Modi government’s “anti-worker, anti-farmer and anti-national, pro-corporate policies”, which include the push to impose labour codes and the recently announced Employment-Linked Incentive (ELI) scheme. The trade unions – INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF and UTUC – also referred to the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar and claimed it is a conspiracy against working people to snatch their right to vote and citizenship to ensure that workers do not have collective bargaining power.

Acme Solar Holdings Ltd. is aiming for a capacity of 10 GW by 2030, a target that will be achieved by a significant addition of projects to its renewable energy portfolio, according to Group Chief Financial Officer Rajat Kumar Singh. "We have already stated that by 2028, we are looking to operationalise 6,970 MW and then go up to 10,000 MW in 2030," he said during a conversation with NDTV Profit NDTV Profit on Monday. "So, it's a journey in that direction." The company has earmarked Rs 17,000 crore for FY27 to support its firm-and-dispatchable-renewable-energy capacity expansion. "Because of our targeted execution of FDRE capacities in FY27, which is basically Rs 17,000 crore, we have already tied up the debt for it," the top executive underlined.

Last year, when Infosys co-founder N. R. Narayana Murthy urged young Indians to put in “at least 70 hours” a week to boost national productivity, his words reignited the long-running debate around work-life balance. While many agreed with his suggestion, others strongly criticised it, arguing that long working hours could lead to burnout and stress. And it seems that his own company may not be in favour of long working hours either. Infosys is reportedly advising its 323,000-plus employees to complete their workday within 9.15 hours and to step away from their laptops after that in order to protect their health. The company’s human resources team has implemented a system that automatically flags employees who exceed 9.15 working hours a day over the course of a month.

India has 85 per cent of its workforce in the informal sector—one of the highest globally—meaning that this large labour segment is outside any social security net. Over the next 20-30 years, the country will lose its leverage of a young demographic. When that happens, this workforce, which lacks social security, risks becoming a huge burden for the government and other stakeholders. In this context, the government has come up with an ambitious Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) scheme, first announced in the Union Budget 2024-25, with a singular focus: formalisation by offering Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) support. Unlike many job and skilling schemes in the past, the ELI scheme has a clearly defined target. Of the total outlay of Rs 2 lakh crore, the cabinet has cleared Rs 99,446 crore, aiming to create 35 million formal jobs over two years. Out of these, 19.2 million employees will be first-timers entering the workforce.

Bengaluru: Global capability centres (GCCs) in India are in the midst of a ‘return revolution’. They no longer operate as back offices for their parent companies. They are emerging as centres of excellence—40% of GCCs in India are actively leading AI charters for their global organisations. Per data from various sources, India had nearly 2,000 GCCs, offering employment to 1.9 million people in FY24 (a significant jump from 1.66 million in FY23) and generating revenue worth about $24.6 billion (a 40% increase from the previous year). Projections envision a market size of $100-110 billion by 2030, with the workforce expanding to 2.5-2.8 million.