Thaindian News

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday launched the National Skill Development Corp as a public-private initiative to help hone the talent of India’s workforce in 21 high-growth industries.
The new corporation, in which the ratio of stake is 49:51 between the government and the industry, will primarily focus on tackling 30 percent of the total skill gap of India’s workforce over the next decade.

“As against 40 million people currently who have received any kind of formal or non-formal training, the new vision envisages creation of a pool of 500 million skilled people by 2022,” Mukherjee said.

Two areas which can be taken up for immediate consideration are adoption of a few Indian Technical Institutes by the corporation on a management contract, so that models for better management of the existing infrastructure can be evolved.

He said instructions had already been given to the finance ministry to engage with multilateral and bilateral funding entities to ensure that the resources for the corporation are periodically replenished, and its activities remain on track.

Sectors identified for the initiative include media and entertainment, information technology, electronics, gems and jewellery, automobiles, leather, financial services, textiles, retail, realty, healthcare, transportation and food processing.