Extending its commitment towards skilling and making the youths of Andhra Pradesh more employable, Johnson Controls - Hitachi Air Conditioning India Limited (JCH-IN) today launched its third Skill Development Centre in Tirupati. Present at the occasion were Sri Balli Durga Prasad (MP, Tirupathi), Sri. Challa Madhusudhan Reddy, Chairman, Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC), Dr. Arja Srikanth, Managing Director and CEO, APSSDC and Mr. Gurmeet Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning India Ltd., along with dealers, business partners, students and ITI staff.  

In a landmark initiative by an Air-Conditioning company, Johnson Controls - Hitachi Air Conditioning India Limited (JCH-IN) collaborated with Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) and Industrial Training Institute to impart skill training in AC repairing and maintenance so as to create new job avenues for rural youth in Andhra Pradesh. Last year the company has launched two skill development centers at Vijayawada and Kakinada. To take skill development and rural youth employability to newer heights in Andhra Pradesh, the company today has launched its third centre at Tirupati and will subsequently launch 2 more centres at Ananthpur and Bobbili, taking the total count of skill development centres to 5, covering the entire state of Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking at the launch, Mr. Gurmeet Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning India Ltd. said, “Hitachi is a global leader in air conditioning technology and we hope to produce world-class technicians in this center. Our vision is to work for society and create value for people. Johnson Controls - Hitachi Air Conditioning India Limited (JCH-IN) had made the commitment to the state of Andhra Pradesh to participate in contributing towards the building of a great and skilled state. We are consistently working towards our commitment by extending the span of skill development centres, thus covering the entire state.”

“Our training centres are a step forward in supporting the government vision by skilling of rural youth in AC repairing and maintenance. We have aggressive plans to impart skill in AC repairing and maintenance to about 360 rural youth per year. Our combined skill development centres in Andhra Pradesh will train about 600 rural youth, enabling them to explore better job and entrepreneurship opportunities.”, Mr. Singh further added.

Talking about the partnership, Sri. Challa Madhusudhan Reddy, Chairman, Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) said, “The Government of Andhra Pradesh has the vision to make Andhra Pradesh, one of the best states in India. Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) is consistently working towards achieving this vision by providing trained and skilled manpower who can largely contribute in the making of India’s most developed state. As a part of providing 75% placement to local youth in industries, Honourable Chief Minister, Sri Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy also instructed to establish Skill University along with Multi Skill Development Centre in each constituency.”

“I extend my gratitude to Johnson Controls - Hitachi Air Conditioning India Limited (JCH-IN) for this collaboration in empowering our youth with new-age capabilities and technical skills to grow and scale up in the fast changing business and job environment. This initiative will definitely support us in generating world class skilled youth and technicians from Andhra Pradesh.” said Sri. Challa Madhusudhan Reddy on the occasion.

This state-of-the-art centre at Tirupati will offer courses in AC repair and maintenance for four batches of 20-30 candidates in a year. The duration of the courses will be 3 months. While the syllabus will be provided by Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning India Limited, the certification will be done jointly by the company and APSSDC. These centres will be providing training which will enable unemployed youth and school dropouts to take up the AC technician course (AC repair and maintenance). The trained technicians can be employed by any AC channel partner/company or even generate self-employment avenues for themselves.