Launch of EV Mechanics Training Programme
Key Highlights
- Delhi Government launches first comprehensive training programme for EV mechanics; aspires to become India’s training hub for the EV workforce.
- MoU signed between DSEU, Hero Electric and WRI India to implement an EV mechanics training program.
- The DSEU will undertake the end-to-end design of the program’s course structure and curriculum.
The Delhi Government has set the ball rolling to impart skills related to electric vehicles in order to drive the creation of green jobs in the city. Delhi is creating its first comprehensive training program for EV mechanics which will prepare the requisite workforce for its thriving EV ecosystem.
The Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University (DSEU) will design an integrated course for training its ‘Diploma in Automobile Engineering’ program students to become ‘Electric Vehicle mechanics. Every year 100 students will be trained in basic and advanced EV mechanics training and provided with relevant internship and apprenticeship opportunities.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between DSEU, WRI India, and Hero Electric Vehicles Ltd. today in the presence of Prof. Neharika Vohra, Vice Chancellor, DSEU; Prof. Rihan Khan Suri, Pro Vice Chancellor, DSEU; Shri Jasmine Shah, Vice Chairperson, DDC Delhi; Shri Ashwani Kansal, Registrar, DSEU; Shri Madhav Pai, Executive Director, WRI India Ross Center and Shri Manu Sharma, AVP, HR, Hero Electric.
The DSEU will undertake the end-to-end design of the program’s course structure and curriculum. Through its rich industry experience, Hero Electric will support DSEU in designing the study material as well as provide practical training and internship opportunities to the program students. As the knowledge partner, World Resources Institute India (WRI India) will provide the required research, monitoring, and evaluation support to the program.
The EV mechanics training program is the first of a series of short and long-term courses to be launched by the Delhi Government to become the training hub of the EV workforce in India. The program has laid the foundation for the creation of thousands of green jobs in Delhi. Rolling out this much-needed training program fulfills two major priorities of the Delhi Government i.e. creating a skilled and trained workforce as envisioned in its Rozgar Budget 2022-23 as well as achieving CM Sh. Arvind Kejriwal’s vision of making Delhi the EV capital of India. Delhi has already emerged as India's EV capital by accelerating EV adoption through its dedicated policy launched in August 2020. Delhi’s EV policy targets 25% of all new vehicle registrations to be EVs by 2024 and has already achieved an average of 10% share of EVs in 2022. The upcoming training program collaboratively developed by DSEU with industry stakeholders will create an industry-ready workforce to support the multifaceted and expeditiously growing EV ecosystem in Delhi. The collaboration formalised today is a result of 8 months of intensive research and due diligence on the EV ecosystem by DDC Delhi and WRI India. The research analysis identified the lack of highly skilled EV mechanics as a potential skill gap as the ecosystem grows in Delhi with a requirement of around 500 new mechanics every year. Making automotive job aspirants future-ready skilled in EV technology will help optimise employment opportunities so that Delhi’s transition to electric mobility does not adversely impact the employment generation in the automobile and transport sectors.
The tripartite agreement signed today is a result of the Delhi Government’s approach of forging partnerships among policymakers, academia, and industry to fill the existing and upcoming gaps in skill training in areas of emerging technologies. EV mechanics training program will be informed by evidence-based automotive best practices globally and is another step by DSEU to create adaptive skilling and education programs to enable access to aspirational jobs. The industry should also ensure they pay the skilled workforce a premium so that it can create a win-win situation for the youth and the industry.
The Delhi Government has walked the talk about its commitment to become the global hub for electric mobility, and skill development goes a long way in achieving the same. We, at Hero Electric, have been waiting for 15 years for such a comprehensive training programme to be designed for EV mechanics and are happy to support their efforts the best we can.
Delhi Government’s initiative to ensure skilling for electric vehicle maintenance will not just create new job opportunities by making skilled mechanics available but also increase the confidence of EV buyers. WRI India is more than happy to support Delhi’s transition to e-mobility to make it more accessible.
