Siemens to ready India's workforce for tomorrow's industry

Company says existing scarcity of skilled workforce creates a roadblock in the adoption of newer technologies

Capital goods maker Siemens will train Indian workers to help them work with new technologies.

Bhaskar Mandal, executive vice-president and sector cluster lead, industry sector, South Asia, said the share of manufacturing in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) was been stagnant at 15-16 per cent since 1980. “The National Manufacturing Policy aims at increasing the sector’s contribution to GDP to 25 per cent by 2025, thus aiming to create 100 million jobs. This can be achieved only when the companies adopt high-end and innovative technologies that help them enhance productivity,” he added.

Mandal said shortage of a skilled workforce was a road block in the adoption of new technologies. The 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-12) puts a great stress on creating a pool of skilled workforce in a five-eight years.

Siemens had earlier signed an agreement with Gujarat for establishing five centers of excellence (CoE) for skill development. Mandal said these would address segments like automotive, industrial machinery, industrial automation, aerospace & defence and shipbuilding.

The company has also signed a three-year agreement with Steel Authority of India (SAIL) for providing technical training to the personnel involved in projects, maintenance & other technical departments of the steel maker. Siemens will be training 32 batches across all nine plants of SAIL.

Siemens has tied up with Automation Industry Association, Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers Association, and Confederation of Indian Industry, among others, for imparting technical education. It is also upgrading Industrial Training Institutes across the nation.

"Closing the gap in skill development is a vital bridge to ensure that we gather momentum in reviving the manufacturing growth of the country. As an organisation, our strength lies in innovations, the intelligent use of new technologies and our century old partnership with the Indian industry," added Mandal.

Industry research has shown employment-ready graduates are in dearth. Some estimate that only 30-35 per cent of graduates are employable.

The company has partnered with Government Tool Room and Training Centre in Bangalore to create a pool of highly skilled technicians for the tooling & manufacturing sector in the state. Under the agreement, Siemens will provide the Sinutrain Operate Software to all 20 centres.

The company’s skill development initiatives began in 1980, said Mandal, when the Sitrain unit started conducting training for industries and institutes.

"Through Sitrain, we have been training close to 1,000 industrial personnel and students every year for the last five years. Together with the partnerships with various institutions, government and industry bodies, we are stepping up our involvement here," he added.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is looking to skill 500 million people in India by 2022, through its various initiatives. National Policy on Skill Development (NPSD) approved by the government has set a target for skilling 500 million persons by the year 2022. Here, National Council on Skill Development (NSDC) has a target of skilling 150 million people by the year 2022. Further, skill development is being enabled by NSDC through the 22 Sector Skill Councils.