The Hindu Business Line : CII-Southern Region to train 50,000 school dropouts this fiscal

Hyderabad, May 23 The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Southern Region, plans to provide pre-employment training to 50,000 school drop-outs across the region during the current financial year.

“In Andhra Pradesh alone, CII would train 5,000 youth under the Grassroots Level Skill Development Initiatives. We are looking at upgrading 24 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in Andhra Pradesh into Centres of Excellence,” Mr B.V.R. Mohan Reddy, Chairman, CII-Southern Region, said while addressing a press conference here on Friday.

He added that to enhance skills and employability, CII would adopt and upgrade 50 ITIs in 2008-09 — this is in addition to 43 ITIs that have already been adopted last year.

The CII Southern Region is also in the process of developing a business operation manual, a blue book for ITIs and Institute Management ommittees, aimed at sustaining the institutes.

Long-term plans

“The other long-term initiatives of the region include developing synergistic linkages among manufacturing and engineering services industry, mechanisation of farm practices to enhance productivity and promoting rural business hub through farmer-industry partnerships,” Mr Reddy said.

During the year, CII Southern Region will also look at enhancing competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and international business promotion activities.

CII is also looking at launching six new SME clusters in Visakhapatnam, Tiruchi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hosur and Kochi during the current financial year.

“As far as short and medium term policy-related issues are concerned, CII’s focus would remain on bringing power reforms in the Southern States and consolidation of Goods and Service Tax (GST) by 2010,” Mr Reddy said.

Agenda for AP

Speaking about the Common Minimum Agenda for Andhra Pradesh, Mr Reddy said that CII is working in tune with the Andhra Pradesh Vision 2025 that aims to ensure inclusive and sustainable growth.

“To ensure a balanced regional development, CII will focus on developing zones such as Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur, Tirupathi and Rajahmundry, besides promoting Tier-II and III towns in the State,” he said.

The Industry body is also looking at conducting a study on the industrial potential of Adilabad, Medak and Nizamabad districts during the year.

More Stories on : Human Resources | Industry Associations | Andhra Pradesh

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