Shillong, Jan. 29: India's "biggest problem" right now is employment opportunities and the textile industry has been identified as one of the major avenues which could create jobs.

This was stated by Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya here today, while delivering a lecture during the inaugural function of the two-day Northeast Investors' Summit organised by the Union textiles ministry along with the Union DoNER ministry.

"The biggest problem, not just of Northeast but of India today, is jobs. And I can think of no better industry for job creation than textiles and apparel. This is the particular sector which has to lead the way," Panagariya said.

But the Niti Aayog vice-chairman said India should be ready to take up the space in the world market as its competitor, China, is experiencing a dwindling work force because of a rapid increase in wages and also the demographic transition.

"Today, China is exiting most of the labour intensive industries. We, being a country with a 500 million work force, are very well positioned to fill that space," he said.

He said because of the rapid increase in wages in China, and the demographic transition, the work force in the neighbouring country was declining.

"But our work force is rising, and it is rising even faster. That places us in a great position to fill a lot of space in the world market. Therefore, it is India's moment, and a moment for the Northeast too," Panagariya said.

However, he appealed for promoting the textile industry in a much larger scale.

"We lack large enterprises to conquer the world market. What we need now is scaling up where big players must play a major role," he said.

He pointed out that at present, India was well behind China and countries like Bangladesh and Vietnam in exporting clothing.

He said scaling up the textile industry would position India as a major player in the world market, besides it would lead to the creation of ancillary industries.

Stating that the textiles industry of the region has potential for growth, Panagariya said the Northeast accounts for more than half of the handloom industry in the country.

At the same time, he said the region, with the right government support, private sector engagement, and investment, could serve as the powerhouse of economic growth.