SKILLING FOR GROWTH

Upskilling and skill development are crucial for Tamil Nadu to achieve its target of becoming a $1 trillion economy. Industry experts say the state has to quickly grow its strong engineering talent base to move up the manufacturing value chain and snag high-value investments in R&D. More so in sunrise sectors such as electric vehicles (EV), semi-conductors, artificial intelligence (AI), electronics and green tech.
The state govt is more than aware that tech skill is a key investment differentiator. "Skilling is at the heart of Tamil Nadu's ambition to become a $1 trillion economy," says industries minister T R B Rajaa. "As India's most industrialised state with the most skilled and work-ready workforce, we already produce 1.5 lakh engineering graduates annually. As Tamil Nadu aggressively expands into high-value sectors such as advanced manufacturing, renewable energy, advanced electronics & semiconductors, IT, and EV, we recognise the need for targeted skilling strategies. We are also aware that an AI-ready workforce is not a value-addition but a necessity," he says.
On a strategy level, the attention is on sunrise sectors. "With a renewed focus on R&D and high-end industrial investments, Tamil Nadu is preparing its workforce to lead in sunrise industries, ensuring we remain India's preferred destination for global innovation and industrial growth," says Rajaa. On the ground, the attempt is to tailor skill schemes to what industry needs. Take Naan Mudhalvan for example. It includes initiatives where the state works "closely with industries to constantly refine course curriculum, with focused interventions in sectors where there are shortages, such as automotive R&D, AI and advanced manufacturing," says Rajaa. "We have also partnered with Google to train two million youngsters in AI in the state," he adds.
The numbers covered under the Naan Mudhalvan scheme give an idea of the scale the govt is looking at. In the past two years, 39.47 lakh engineering, arts, science and polytechnic students from 2,085 institutions have been trained under this scheme. In the June-Dec 2024 period alone, nearly 11 lakh students have been trained compared to 14.68 lakh students in the full FY 23-24 and 13.14 lakh students in FY22-23. More importantly, there's continued engagement with emerging industries to tweak skilling according to demand. "TN Skill periodically conducts HR meets to understand industry demands and curate courses and offers these industry-ready courses in engineering, arts and science, ITI and polytechnic colleges as a mandatory credit programme in every semester," says Rajkumar K V, project director at Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation.
As for employability-led training, placement-linked short-term courses are also being run for unemployed graduates under the Factory Skill Schools and Naan Mudhalvan Finishing School programme. Industries are empanelled as training centres and unemployed youth are provided with skill vouchers to redeem skill training cost at empanelled centres under this programme.
While that's an aggressive attempt to address the skill gap issue, industry feels more targeted interventions are necessary particularly since the gap is uneven across different sectors. An industry-wise assessment by HR firm Teamlease reveals workforce shortages across renewable energy, electronics & semiconductor, IT, and auto sectors. "A sectoral breakdown of the data highlights that the renewable energy sector meets 85% of its workforce demand, leaving a 15% shortfall, while the electronics & semiconductor industry fulfills 88% of its need, creating a 12% gap," says Sumit Kumar, chief strategy officer, TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship. "In the IT sector, 89% of the workforce demand is met, with an 11% gap, whereas the auto sector faces the most severe shortfall, meeting only 65% of its needs, resulting in a 35% gap," he adds. In other words, the skill gap is a spectrum with auto at one end and IT at another.
So what is the state doing to bridge this shortfall? It has a two-pronged approach. One, under TN Skill there are four active apex skill development centres which are subsidiary companies with 50% govt stake and 50% stake held by a consortium of companies represented by a lead implementation partner for conducting upskilling programmes in industries. That's targeted at people who are already employed and need future-ready skills. Two, the focus is on new graduates entering the work force. The govt is expanding the curricula in colleges and polytechnics to make them more industry friendly. "The govt has recognized the skill gap and has done tremendous amount of work to address the issue," says state industries secretary V Arun Roy. "The syllabi of polytechnics have been revamped in consultation with industry to make them relevant and contemporary and 71 ITI s have been upgraded to meet Industry 4.0 standards." Specialised industry 4.0 courses in areas such as industrial robotics, internet of things, electric vehicle, industrial automation, 3D printing, and manufacturing process control are now on offer at govt-run ITIs and "5600 candidates completed this programme last year," says Rajkumar. That apart, centres of excellence are being operated by TIDCO, which offer training facilities in advanced manufacturing. The idea is to approach skilling both from the grad school end as well as from the workplace end.