New Delhi: Delhi’s industrial workforce has inched up in recent years, pointing to a slow and uneven recovery in the capital’s manufacturing base since the Covid-19 pandemic.Employment in registered factories rose from just over 4 lakh in 2020 to 4.1 lakh in 2024, even as the number of units increased from 8,643 to 8,869, according to latest govt data.A senior govt official said this suggests new factories are not generating proportionate jobs, which could be due to either a higher capital intensity or limited scale of expansion.A closer look at the data shows job growth is concentrated in a few sectors in the city rather than being broad-based. Rubber and plastics units saw employment rise from 16,942 in 2020 to 19,111 in 2024, while repair services grew from 12,691 to 15,503. These gains point to a demand-led expansion in select segments linked to consumption and maintenance services, another official said.The beverages and tobacco sector recorded a sharp jump in jobs from 1,913 to 2,680, suggesting higher labour absorption despite a smaller industrial base.In contrast, opportunities in traditional, labour-intensive sectors appear to have plateaued. The number of jobs in the textile sector, which accounts for the largest number of factories at around 1,500 in Delhi, remained flat at just over 1 lakh workers, indicating stagnation and limited fresh hiring. This is significant as the sector has historically been a major source of employment in the city’s industrial ecosystem, the official said.Other core manufacturing segments also show signs of stability rather than growth. Chemicals remained unchanged at 172 factories with employment at around 7,019 between 2020 and 2024, while metal products and machinery units continued to employ roughly 30,000 workers during the same period. Paper and printing recorded only a marginal increase in jobs from 22,940 to 23,915, reinforcing the trend of incremental, rather than expansionary, growth.At the same time, a sharp rise in the number of wholesale trade-linked units — from two to 41 — and employment increasing from 105 to 1,283 workers point to a structural shift towards logistics and supply chain activities. The official said this suggests that part of Delhi’s industrial growth may be moving away from traditional manufacturing towards distribution-led operations.
