International Business Education Journal Vol. 14 No. 1 (2021) 17-33 Manuscript received Oct 14, 2020; revised Dec 16, 2020; published Mar 3, 2021 17 How Inclusive is “Inclusive Development” in India? Challenges and Prospects of Indian Youth Labour Market Nitin Bisht a , Falguni Pattanaik b a, b Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, India Corresponding author: bisht.nitin4@gmail.com To cite this article (APA): Bisht, N., & Pattanaik, F. (2021). How Inclusive is “Inclusive Development” in India? Challenges and Prospects of Indian Youth Labour Market. International Business Education Journal, 14(1), 17-33. https://doi.org/10.37134/ibej.vol14.1.2.2021 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.37134/ibej.vol14.1.2.2021 Abstract This study investigates the degree of inclusiveness of youth in the Indian labour market concerning Goal 4 and Goal 8 of the Sustainable Development Goals-2030. For this purpose, the study engages logistic regression by considering the 50th (1993/94), 55th (1999/00), 61st (2004/05) and 68th (2011/12) rounds of (un)employment surveys of NSSO. The empirical results reflect the high exclusion of youth in the Indian labour market, especially the female youth. By highlighting labour market exclusion as a challenge to economic development, the study further explores the intensity of risk factors affecting youth to remain excluded from the labour market. The findings divulge that gender remains a significant contributor to exclusion, often restricting access to employment. However, youth from low income, minorities, certain castes or religious groups are in many cases, even more, excluded from economic development. The implications of this study contribute by identifying the risk factors of youth transition in the Indian labour market. The findings add significant value to the limited youth labour market studies in India and advocates on the policy front to create better labour market opportunities to re-integrate NEET youth into a gainful activity. Therefore, a holistic approach within the broader context of macro (government and society), meso (household) and micro (individual) development need to be considered in order to make ‘youth’ more inclusive in the economic development of the country. Keywords: Inclusion, Labour market, Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET), Workforce, Youth INTRODUCTION The idea of inclusiveness in development literature dates back to 1966, with the adoption of two aspiring human rights declaration―one dealing with political and other with socio- economic aspects. The engagement of weaker sections was ensured through the protection of economic, social and civil rights (United Nations 1998). Further, the significance of inclusiveness is highlighted through the commitments of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)-2030. SDGs aim towards inclusive development, prioritising the youth and female labour force as the most marginalised section of the labour market. Goal no. 4 and 8 of the SDGs highly focuses on enhancing the school enrollment of female youth, along with the generation of equitable and decent employment opportunities. These goals attempt to tackle the exclusivity of youth through a successful school-to-work transition. The notion of inclusivity largely relies on the dynamics of economic progression and labour market functionality. Visualising economic growth of India, the economy has outperformed well in figures over a couple of decades. On the contrary, the labour market