The Indian earthmoving and construction equipment (ECE) industry would require around two million skilled workforce by 2020 for operating and maintaining huge volumes of machinery in the infrastructure sector across the country. This would require the government and industry players will have to jointly introduce specific courses in industrial training institutes, polytechnics, and vocational training institutes to build the required human capital over the next 10 years. Shortage of skilled workforce could stall the growth of manufacturers, after-sales support firms, equipment operators and maintenance firms.

The industry, which is projected to grow six fold to generate sales revenue of $23 billion in 2020 as against $3.7 billion in 2010, will require about 10 percent post-graduate students for managerial posts, 12 percent engineering graduates, 15 percent diploma/ITI students for supervisory roles and about 50 percent of schools dropouts with or without 12th standard certification. Though the industry has multiple skill requirements, 75 percent of the demand is for basic and supervisory skills, including skills to operate machines such as cranes of different types, hoists, dumpers, forklift trucks and aerial ropeways, among others.

Experts believe that the government's skill training programmes are not market driven and there are funding woes, institutional challenges, quality issues, and student constraints.

Source: The Economic Times