A manager trains new welders at a windmill tower business in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, in August.
Photographer: Sameer Raichur/BloombergModi’s Make in India Ambitions Clash With a Surging Gig Economy
India’s growth depends on building factories without losing the workers powering its gig boom.
Arivudainamba Lokesh is one of thousands of delivery drivers zipping through traffic for India’s booming quick-commerce sector. He dreams of owning a business selling saffron — often called “red gold” for being one of the most lucrative crops in the world — but he needs money to get started. After earning a commerce degree, he took a job at a cotton mill, sweating through long shifts in stifling heat. Four months in, he still hadn’t saved anything.
So Lokesh swapped the factory floor for the city streets of Tiruchirappalli, delivering groceries on his motorbike. Now he sets aside about 10,000 rupees ($113) each month — small steps, he says, toward his goal of becoming an entrepreneur.