Study finds 1.3 lakh skilled staff shortage in Bengal by 2015

West Bengal is likely to require 1.3 lakh skilled workers by 2015, a demand that state universities may fail to meet given the current inadequate infrastructure capacities.

A recent CII-PWC study has revealed that West Bengal currently has 12 universities comprising 600 colleges, including engineering, MCA and other specialized institutes under both government and private ownership, with more than 8,00,000 students enrolling every year.

As of 2007, the state had 64 engineering institutes, including university departments, government colleges and private institutes. The intake capacity of the engineering institutes in the state had grown to more than 16,000 in 2007, which is expected to touch 50,000 by 2015.

Currently, the institutes in West Bengal have an intake capacity of around 1,400 MCAs which is estimated to go beyond 6,000 by 2015. The report predicts that the number of diploma holders will increase to around 10,000 by 2010 and the number of ITI-trained professionals will rise to about 24,000 by 2015.

However, the manufacturing and services sectors together would require the largest skilled manpower in West Bengal by 2015. In the manufacturing sector, the iron and steel sector is anticipated to require around 20,000 direct recruits in the state including engineers, diploma holders and ITI-trained professionals. Petrochemicals is another sector which would see a requirement of around 7,000 – 7,500 direct recruits. Other smaller manufacturing sectors like food processing industries and leather, are expected to have an additional requirement of around 30,000 direct recruits including.

In the organized retail segment, by 2015, the report predicts an additional requirement of 70,000 – 80000 skilled personnel, while in real estate and construction, there may be an additional requirement of 80,000 – 120,000 skilled personnel including engineers, diploma holders and ITI-trained personnel.