Skill Development Initiatives in India

Structural changes in the Indian economy have precipitated changes in the patterns of demand for industrial labour. Recent trends in the composition of employment indicate that the Indian workforce is migrating from the agriculture sector to the industry-and-services sectors. India has one of the youngest populations in the world, a trend that is expected to continue until 2040. However, India's labour productivity is much lower than that of other Asian economies. A structural shift towards higher-productivity sectors requires up-skilling of the labour force in order to ensure the country’s inclusive economic growth. Skill development has emerged as a national priority and a number of skill-training initiatives have been undertaken over the last four years. In this context, the role of international players in the Indian skill domain is explored in this paper.