1Advisor, Joint Electricity Regulatory, Commission & National Joint Secretary- IIPE
2Associate Prof., School of Vocational, Education & Training - IGNOU
Online published on 17 September, 2015.
The Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) had shown the prominence in the developed countries and now in recent years in India. Renewable energy employment opportunities continue to grow in more and more countries. International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimates that renewable energy jobs reached 6.5 million in 2013. In decreasing order, the largest employers in 2013 were China, Brazil, the United States, India, Germany, Spain and Bangladesh. Regional shifts from developed to emerging countries continues in wind and solar technologies, predominantly in the manufacturing and installation segments of the value chain.
New Mantra for Indian Growth spelt out by the Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is “Skills, Scale and Speed” as announced during a book launch “Getting India Back on Track”. The four Colours of Indian flag highlighting Saffron for Solar power, White for improving dairy productivity, Green for agriculture and Blue Colour in the wheel for Fisheries for changing the economic wheel were specified by him indicates the importance of Solar Power by his government.
Like any other technological sector, RETs have also shown Skill Gaps due to the sudden expansion in the sector. There is an urgent need to fix Skill Standards tied to quantitative measurements of qualitative Skill parameters of Human Capital Assets required for this sector urgently needing Capacity Building (fixing the skill gaps). The Skill Standards act as bench marks, compare two independent individuals and are thus useful for measuring the Skills, establishing a correlation of various skills, testing the significance of the variation, establish cause and effect relationship for the course correction in respect of the Skills gaps as required.
Skilled manpower is needed for execution of an ambitious RE program in India, which also is exportable with their expertise for inward remittances. The Skills needed in this sector with specifics to Solar are broadly covered in this paper. The skilling domain in this paper will also include Soft Skills within the ambit along with Technical Skills.
Employment in RE Sector, Skills, Renewable Energy, Renewable Energy Technologies (RET), National Occupation Standards (NOS), Skill Standards, Skill Gaps, Skilling ROI, and Technology need
