Tata Group to Invest Over ₹500 Crore to Establish Two Indian Institutes of Skill (IIS)

New Delhi: The Tata Group will invest over ₹500 crore to establish two Indian Institutes of Skills (IISs) – one in Mumbai and another in Ahmedabad in collaboration with the ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship, the union government said Wednesday.

Inspired by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) model of education, the IIS will be developed on a public-private-partnership (PPP) mode with land coming from government and capital from the Tata Group.

While the IIS Mumbai foundation was laid Wednesday by skills minister M.N. Pandey in the presence of Tata Group Chairman N. Chandrasekaran, a formal announcement related to the Ahmedabad IIS will be made over the next couple of weeks.

“Tata Group will build two IISs and their selection was done after a competitive bidding. They are expected to invest over 500 crore including Rs. 300 crore for the Mumbai institute,” skills secretary K.P. Krishnan said.

The IIS will be modelled after IITs and IIMs and expected to emerge as the tertiary level institute in the skills eco system and cater to the demand of industry 4.O. and offer courses in areas like deep technology, aerospace, etc.

“This is a privilege for us to be a part of something that was initiated and conceptualized by Honourable Prime Minister,” N Chandrasekaran said Wednesday, adding that both the Tata Group and the government was working closely for the last three months on the issue.

“We are aware that jobs are important for the economic growth and it has been noticed that approximately 1 million people join the workforce every year. In such a scenario, skilling is the appropriate solution to help the youth in getting productively employed. There has been a mismatch between the skills that are imparted and the jobs that are available. We need to ensure that there are skills imparted to make the youth ready for 21st century jobs,” Tata Group Chairman said.

“At IIS, we look at providing a curriculum that would help to impart traditional skills along with soft skills. I am optimistic to have worldclass partners who would help us in making our mission through IIS stronger,” he said during his address in Mumbai event.

“The concept of Indian Institute of Skills (IIS) was envisaged by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji himself when he had visited the Vocational Education and Training Center in Singapore… (IIS) will be on the lines of the IITs and the IIMs that we have in our country. It will aspire to earn a similar reputation, stature and world-class infrastructure to cater to the demands of the international market and modern requirements,” skills minister Pandey said.

The skills ministry feels that IIS will be tertiary care institute in the skills eco system and offer best of the industry required courses in emerging and high demand areas including deep technology, aerospace among others. The concept of the IIS is “on the lines of that of the IITs and IIMs in India”.

Government would provide access to its land through a 25 year long licence. Once the institutes are operational, government expects at least 5000 students to pass out of each of these institutes from the fifth years of operation with a placement record of at least 70%.

India will build 3 IIS one fully funded by the government and two in PPP model with Tata Group as it’s partner. The development also marks a shift in skill missions approach from an earlier asset light model to asset creation model with help from corporates.

---

Source: LM

Image Courtesy: Beyond Teaching

---