New council to address paint industry skill crunch

Kolkata: The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has approved the Indian Paints Association (IPA) proposal to establish a dedicated paints and coatings skill council to address its skill gaps, an official said here on Friday.

Addressing IPA's 52nd annual general meeting here, its president Jayakumar Krishnaswamy said the requirement of skilled painters is estimated to increase from 1.7 million in 2013-14 to three million by 2023-24.

"The paint industry, owing to its staggering growth rate of 13 percent Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over the last decade, has been facing a skills crunch, especially in the area of paint application," said Krishnaswamy.

"The association has felt for long that the sustenance of the growth in the paint industry can only be achieved through proactive initiatives to address the skill gaps in the entire value chain," said Krishnaswamy.

"The NSDC has approved our proposal to set up a dedicated paints and skill council. It will help create the standards required for skills, encourage and promote the setting up of the required training institutions and academies."

"All the modalities are being worked out and the new skill council will soon start operating," added Krishnaswamy.

The IPA has also signed a MoU with Proskills - a Britain-based skills development body, for the new skill council.

Lamenting the low per capita consumption of paints which stands only at 2.65 kg, Krishnaswamy, the outgoing IPA president, said the Narendra Modi government's initiatives such as developing 100 smart cities and 'Make in India' campaign would give impetus to industrial growth, including the paint sector.

At the AGM, Jalaj Dani, president, international and chemicals, Asian Paints, was named the new IPA president while Berger Paints' managing director Abhijit Roy was named the new vice president.