`We need Rs 1 lakh crore to skill 500 million Indians'

Pranbihanga Borpuzari

Entrepreneur (E): Why do we need an institution like the NSDC?
Dilip Chenoy (DC): India does not have the number of skilled people needed across various disciplines. But those numbers are needed because the economy, as a whole, needs to grow at a rate of 10-12 percent. At the NSDC, we did a survey of the skill-gap in 21 centers. Industry bodies claimed (at the height of the recession) that over the next 12 years they need 240 million people just to maintain the current growth rate. The education system produces about 12 million graduates and another 4.3 million people who come out of the education system as skilled people. If you multiply this by 12 you are woefully short of the number of people that we require to maintain the growth in these centers. There is a huge gap between demand and what comes out from schools, universities and, most importantly, in the vocational space. In the vocational space, there is a dire need for the 4.3 million to grow into 40 million a year. Hence, we need an eight-fold expansion.
Also, you must look at the quality of the labor force. A lot of people who are graduating out of the system cannot be employed. Another issue is that of qualification. Regular degrees like BA, MTech or MA are just not enough. What worked in the past will not work in the future and you need disruptive changes by making people pursue courses which bridge the demand and supply gaps. The NSDC