In June 2025, the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoL&E) affiliated Noida (Uttar Pradesh, UP) based VV Giri National Labour Institute (VVGNLI) released its new study, which has projected that gig and platform workforce in India is expected to grow approximately 62 million by 2047, accounting nearly 15% of the total non-agricultural workforce.
- This increase shows a significant shift in how people work, driven by technology, flexible employment models, and the increasing need for flexible work arrangements.
- The new study has used estimates from a 2022 National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog report on gig workers and applied the exponential smoothing error, trend, seasonality model to make projections.
Key Projections:
i.The new study has projected that the number of gig workers are expected to be more than double over the next 17 years.
ii.The study has also observed that initially ride-sharing and food delivery were the main areas of the gig industry, which has now expanded into various sectors like: healthcare, education, creative services, and professional consulting, among others.
iii.As per the NITI Aayog report, more than 3 million workers were employed by nearly 11 Indian platform companies in 2020.
- This figure is estimated to increase to 23 million by 2030, including 7% of the total non-agricultural workforce.
iv.The VVGNLI study also highlighted that gig workforce may grow only to 32.5 million instead of 62 million by 2047 due to various external factors such as technological disruption or advancement, regulatory or policy changes, or economic shocks.
- But, if there is a boom in the gig economy, then the sector is capable of generating 90.8 million gig jobs.
Other Key Suggestions:
i.The government study emphasized for recognizing the rights to collective bargaining and unionization as this will help in better understanding of the algorithms used by various platforms to assign tasks and determine pay.
ii.The study gave examples of various countries like: the United Kingdom (UK), Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, among others, where gig workers are legally recognised.
- It also called for clarity in the classification of gig workers in India.
- It suggested establishing specific criteria to differentiate between employees and independent contractors based on factors like: control over work, financial dependency, and job security.
iii.The study recommended to establish a statutory national registry for platform and gig workers, managed by both central and state governments.
About Ministry of Labour & Employment (MoL&E):
Union Minister- Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya (Constituency- Porbandar, Gujarat)
Minister of State (MoS)- Shobha Karandlaje (Constituency- Bangalore North, Karnataka)
