Pradhan holds interactive meet with global companies on skill initiatives

Bhubaneswar: Union Skill Development Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday interacted with several global companies on skill development initiatives here.

He also interacted with the skill development institutes, academic institutions imparting skill training in Odisha.

The delegates of Japanese companies like  Hitachi Zosen India Pvt. Ltd., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries India Pvt. Ltd., Toyo Engineering India Pvt. Ltd., and delegates of prestigious oil and gas companies of the world like Dupont, ExxonMobil, Haldor  Topsoe, UOP, among many others.

Sandeep Poundrik, Joint Secretary (Refineries), Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Rajesh Agarwal, Joint Secretary (Skill), CMDs of Oil & Gas PSU companies of India were also present during the interaction.

The sole agenda of the interactive meet was to pave the way for international collaborations with the State’s premier technical institutions for training the local youth to increase employability.

Pradhan said, “Odisha offers a very optimistic ecosystem to develop it as skill & knowledge-centric hub with the presence of premier academic institutions under the State and private sector as well as world-class training institutions like CIPET and Central Tool Room.’’

The Minister added that such platforms must create networking opportunities to collectively upgrade our human resources capital. We must ensure that people’s skills keep pace with technology.

Japanese Ambassador Kenji Hiramatsu, who was part of the deliberations, said that there exists tremendous potential in Odisha for developing knowledge and skill-based industries with support from Japanese business sector.

Skill development has been accorded a top priority in the Hydrocarbon sector, in line with the National Skill Development Mission of Government of India.

The Hydrocarbon sector in India has evolved rapidly over the years. The enormity of this sector and its rapid growth promises remarkable contribution to the Indian economy, in terms of GDP and employment opportunities – both direct and indirect employment.

The availability of the sufficient number of skilled personnel for business operations and the associated challenges related to attracting, training and retaining of personnel etc. are gaining critical importance today.

Considering the pioneering initiatives introduced in Odisha by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, putting it strongly on the road of being the’ Energy Gateway to Eastern India’, it is opening up a world of opportunities for progress and prosperity of the region.

In this context, the Petroleum, Chemicals, Petrochemicals, Investment Region (PCPIR) being developed at Paradip, shall require manpower with varied skill sets for the hydrocarbon as well as for allied sector.

Rajesh Agarwal, Joint Secretary (Skill), GoI, while setting the context said that this networking shall promote positive interaction between employer and trainer and who deliver skills on the ground.  He added that the productivity increases with the availability of right skill sets at the right place.

The deliberations threw up some very relevant issues on skilling in India and global context ranging from policy intervention, MoU with industries to increase placement percentage; encouraging region-centric skills and skill mapping to match industry needs.

Representatives from skill development institutes from Odisha like IIT, Skill Development Institute, CIPET, CV Raman Engineering College, Shikasha O Anusandhan, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology & Kalinga Institute of Social Science, Central Tool Room, Centurion University, and Sri Sri University, participated in the interaction.