Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. and two Bangalore-based industry entities will jointly float a national skill development body, which will create a pool of four lakh skilled professionals in the aerospace and aviation sector over the next 10 years.
Considering that the current core aerospace workforce of graduate and diploma engineers is an estimated 1 to 1.5 lakh people, according to an industry person, this would increase it almost fourfold.
The body, to be registered soon, has sounded out aviation entities, airlines, airport operators and academia to join the national endeavour to meet the vast human resource requirements arising in defence and civil areas. HAL has been tasked with leading the effort. Bangalore Chambers of Industry and Commerce and the Society of Indian Aerospace Technologies and Industries — the latter co-founded by a former HAL chairman — are the industry partners, a statement from defence public enterprise said on Tuesday.
Major commercial carriers Air India, Jet Airways, SpiceJet, IndiGo; the GVK Group which operates Mumbai and Bangalore airports; Tata group; Indian Space Research Organisation, and the CSIR’s National Aerospace Laboratories have been invited to join the sector council. The governing council of the entity “is mandated to train approximately four lakh persons over the next 10 years in 90 different trades [that have been] identified for employment opportunities, improving employability and bridging gaps in the skills required in the sector,” the release said quoting R.K. Tyagi, HAL Chairman and council head.
The aerospace sector skill council will take off under the National Skill Development Council of the Union Ministry of Finance, which has so far spawned 20 other sector skill bodies. It will focus on training, teaching infrastructure, industry-oriented curriculum, meeting HR requirements of the sector, and introducing global best practices and standards. The present training capacity is only for 31 lakh people a year whereas 1.28 crore new entrants are joining the work force each year.
“India needs an effective training and education infrastructure supported by a pragmatic labour-industry-academia ecosystem. A skill development council will help create employment opportunities for this young force,” HAL said.
