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Our Bureau

Investing Rs 50 cr in its training institutes this year

New Delhi May 19 Larsen and Toubro (L&T) plans to churn out trained construction workers every year from its Construction Skills Training Institutes (CSTI) across seven locations in the country.

The company, which set up its first CSTI in Chennai, has a branch in Panvel, near Mumbai, with five more coming up in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and Kolkata.

Workmen, mainly from the rural areas, are put through skill and knowledge upgradation programmes at these institutes in a bevy of areas including masonry, bar bending and steel fixing, plumbing and sanitary, and electrical wiring.

Manpower shortage

"L&T is facing a shortage of trained manpower, especially at the workman level, which is a problem that has been plaguing the industry as a whole," the L&T's President-Construction and Board Member, Mr K.V. Rangaswami, said. The company is planning an investment of Rs 50 crore this year on the institutes, he added.

The construction industry is the second largest employer in India after agriculture, employing about a 30-35 million-strong workforce. Of these, according to industry estimates, only about 5 per cent are qualified and skilled, leaving the sector with a large number of unskilled and semi-skilled workers.

"As a result of the manpower shortages, people are working at one rung lower throughout the hierarchy. We are creating higher skills and knowledge at grass-root levels so that we can place employees at their right levels," he said.

The CSTIs impart training to workers totally free of cost, a majority of whom are inducted into L&T's workforce.

"Though after training, we have cases of people leaving us for prospects elsewhere, we are looking at the institutes in the larger interest of the industry as well," he said.

The single most concrete advantage gained in this format of systematic training over the traditional system of training has been the reduction of time, almost 50 per cent, in developing a skilled worker.

More Stories on : Outlook | Human Resources | Diversified | Larsen & Toubro Ltd

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