Platform to track global mobility of skilled workers in works

New Delhi: The government is setting up a dedicated platform focused on international mobility of skilled workers from India through mutual recognition of competencies, skills, qualifications and certifications with key countries.

Under this exercise, apart from skilling to meet international standards, relevant visa and mobility arrangements will be made in coordination with the external affairs ministry or through multilateral agreements based on preset guidelines to facilitate the smooth mobility of skilled talent, a senior government official told ET.

The 'Green Skills Channel' plan is to leverage India's experiences from existing programmes such as the technical intern training programme with Japan and bilateral agreements with Gulf countries to scale up international skilling efforts.


The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), in association with other stakeholder ministries, will strengthen the global skills demand forecasting to allow data-driven planning of globally oriented skilling initiatives. Recognition of skill certifications thus received will be orchestrated with key countries, supported by partnerships and mobility agreements between India and the identified countries.

The government is of the view that India is uniquely positioned to meet emerging global labour shortages with its young, diverse and skilled workforce. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for making India the skills capital of the world, prompting the MSDE to focus on and prioritise international mobility of workers from India. A recent FICCI-KPMG report on global mobility of India workforce projected a global shortage of more than 85 million skilled workers by 2030, driven largely by demographic shifts, technological advancements and economic restructuring in many regions. The report said India is positioned to help address this labour supply gap, as it is projected to have a surplus of about 45.3 million skilled workers by 2030. To capitalise on this massive opportunity, the MSDE has undertaken targeted skilling of candidates for overseas employment, strengthening skills for the services export sector like the global capability centres and enhancing workforce skills to support goods exports by mutually recognising qualifications between domestic training programmes and international standards.

Besides, the ministry is working on development of globally oriented courses, curriculum and infrastructure to cater to the talent needs of growing services and goods exporters. This will not only open up job opportunities for India's youth overseas but also help attract foreign investments in the country, especially in emerging sectors such as semiconductors, robotics, artificial learning and machine learning.