India needs more concrete steps to boost job mkt: Rajan

Davos: Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan on Tuesday lauded the Modi government for doing a lot of good work on the infrastructure front in India and hoped there would be some concrete steps in the upcoming Budget to boost the job market.

Speaking at a session on the US dollar here at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Rajan also said the depreciation in rupee to near Rs85-level against the US dollar is more because of the strengthening of the American currency rather than any domestic factor.

The Modi government has done a lot of good work on the infrastructure front but the other key pillar that needs to boost consumption is the job market, he said. India is growing at 6 per cent, which is actually great but when we look at per capita figures, it needs to grow much faster, Rajan said. There is an urgent need to boost the job market, he said, adding, "a Union Budget is due in the next few days and hopefully we will see something there".