NSDC-Globsyn tie-up for skill development

The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), the Finance Ministry-backed public-private partnership focused on the manpower sector, is likely to form a joint venture (JV) with Kolkata-based Globsyn Group to train 3.52 lakh youth over a 10-year period.

The partnership will initially aim at establishing five centres in West Bengal for skill development in the electronics and IT hardware, ITeS and organised retail sectors, where about 48 per cent of trainees would be college graduates and the remaining high-school pass outs.

Globsyn is slated to hold 73 per cent equity in the JV entity though a new entity, Globsyn Skill Development Limited, while NSDC’s holding would be the balance 27 per cent.

The total cost of the project is likely to be around Rs 12.51 crore, of which NSDC will provide Rs 8.23 crore through a loan and an additional Rs 1.15 crore as the equity contribution to the JV. Globsyn, on its part, will spend Rs 3.13 crore as its equity contribution for the venture.

“Globsyn has put in a proposal, which has been recently cleared by our board. We will be looking at setting-up a number of centres in West Bengal for fresh skill development and re-skilling. Globsyn will also ensure that over 70 per cent of pass-outs from these centres will be placed either within the organisation or elsewhere,” NSDC chairman and managing director Dilip Chenoy said.

“We have been in the skill development sector for the last 14 years, but our primary focus was on the IT sector. This JV will allow us to undertake mass training, as we will be able to take in unskilled, semi-skilled as well as skilled people. Apart from IT and retail, we will also look at the healthcare, construction and automobile sectors,” Globsyn Group chairman and chief executive officer Bikram Dasgupta said.

The training centres will first come up in Durgapur, Siliguri and Berhampore, along with two in Kolkata, he added.