NEW DELHI , July 8: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) with the support of the Ministry of Skills Development & Entrepreneurship and the National Skill Development Corporation is promoting the Strategic Manufacturing Skills Council (SMSC). The SMSC will help develop a trained workforce for defence equipment manufacturing, ship building and repair, homeland security equipment and safety and fire-fighting equipment. A highly technical and capital intensive sector, strategic manufacturing is essential for security and self-reliance in critical technologies and products. Major industry players in both the Public and Private sectors are supporting the Council including defence public sector undertakings. The key private sector players include the Godrej Group, the Mahindra Group, L&T, Bharat Forge, the Tata Group, and others. Udayant Malhotra, Managing Director, Dynamatic Technologies, is the Chairman of the proposed Council. The Council also has representatives from the Ministries of Defence and Shipping. The strategic manufacturing sector provides employment to about 12 lakh people and is expected to employ over 30 lakhs in the next ten years. India will need approximately 18 lakh technologically highly-skilled, skilled and semi-skilled workers for the sector over the next decade. The SMSC will train and certify 15 lakh persons over a period of 10 years covering 50 job roles from level 1 to 5, as also certify 200 training institute and 3320 trainers. Availability of engineers and skilled personnel is among the biggest challenges for the strategic manufacturing sector as more products are manufacturing under the ‘Make in India’ and Offset Policy. The sector requires high precision levels and the current training infrastructure is inadequate. There is an urgent need to identify the gaps, assess the demand of various skill sets and build a skilled workforce for which all the stakeholders need to work collectively. The SMSC will create a dynamic Labour Market Information System (LMIS) to keep track of the labour market, identify skill gaps, frame Occupational Standards, ensure adequate availability of faculty through Train The Trainer initiatives, build accreditation and certification mechanisms and encourage capacity building through private sector participation. The SMSC will set benchmarks for:

1. Determining the skills standards for the existing workforce and new entrants
2. Creating standardized curriculums and benchmarks for training
3. Developing career pathways for existing workforce, providing clear career opportunities and linked benefits across the industry for higher retention in the industry and reducing attrition

The SMSC will enable improvement in overall quantum and quality of production of the Strategic Manufacturing sector by complementing the existing vocational education system and enhancing the skill building capacity across levels for the entire value chain.