To encourage skill development and innovation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the facilities of German auto supplier Bosch here.
This is Ms. Merkel’s first visit to India’s technology capital and Bosch, which has been present in the country for more than 80 years.
Ms. Merkel flew into Bengaluru on Monday with a large official and business delegation to participate in the events with Mr. Modi on Tuesday.
They interacted with students who are doing an apprenticeship at Bosch Vocational Centre. Among them were Mamatha N., Kiran K., Nikhil J. and Syed Mansoor, all teenagers. They are building a robot which would provide assistance to employees to transport various components from one place to another in the manufacturing plant.
“I’m proud and happy to have interacted with the two heads of State,” said Mamatha (17), who has completed her matriculation and wants to become an engineer.
Ms. Merkel and Mr. Modi both received the colourful ‘Make in India’ lion model made by apprentices at the facility.
The Bosch Vocational Centre has trained over 2,500 apprentices till now. The company has also developed and deployed two-month training programmes to provide basic skills to school dropouts, including train-the-trainer programme.
Bosch said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Karnataka and Maharashtra governments to start this programme in 50 technical institutes.
