ADB okays $150 mn loan for Madhya Pradesh's first multi-skills park setup

Multilateral lender ADB will provide USD 150 million loan for establishing the first multi-skills park in central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

The board of directors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD 150 million loan to establish the first multi-skills park in India, it said in a release Thursday.

The skills park is to be equipped with international training facilities to enhance the quality of Madhya Pradesh's technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system.

It will create a more skilled workforce that meets the labour market needs of the state, ADB said.

"Madhya Pradesh has one of the largest working-age populations in India, with the labour force expected to expand from 48 million in 2016 to 56 million in 2026. However, not a lot of them have the necessary skills and training that can meet the employment needs of the state's emerging sectors," said ADB Principal Social Sector Specialist Sunhwa Lee.

ADB's assistance will help open up opportunities to the men and women of Madhya Pradesh to gain high-level skills that increase their employability and capacity to contribute to growth, Lee said.

As per ADB, the skills gap in Madhya Pradesh is expected to increase in the next six years, with an incremental demand for skilled workers projected to hit 5.6 million in 2024.

More than 55 per cent of the state's workforce is currently in agriculture, while 22 per cent is in industry and 23 per cent in services. The percentage of people in the workforce that has undergone any formal vocational training is just 1.2 per cent.

This is exacerbated by the fact that quality and industrial relevance of current TVET programmes in Madhya Pradesh are inadequate, with employers revealing that many graduates of these programs require additional training, ADB said.

This new flagship Global Skills Park (GSP) campus will be established in state capital Bhopal from where about 20,000 people are expected to be benefited.

The Madhya Pradesh Skills Development Project will also help in modernising 10 industrial training institutes across the state by renovating training infrastructure and upgrading skills courses to align with industry and market needs.

ADB said it will also administer a USD 2 million technical assistance grant from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, financed by the Government of Japan. It will help assist in the preparation of the operational guidelines and setting up of the GSP Society as well as in the development of reform initiatives for industrial training institutes.