CALCUTTA, INDIA (Oct. 26, 1:10 p.m. ET) — India’s plastics industry is making progress a training center that it hopes will help ease a shortage of trained workers.
According to one estimate, India has 55,000 plastics processors that employ 400,000 — and hire around 70,000 trained workers annually.
The India Plastics Federation is setting up a $5 million training center in the state of West Bengal, inside an industrial park set up for downstream petrochemical industries, including plastics processing.
Amar Seth, chairman of both the IPF committee organizing the center and the organizing committee for the Indplas trade show, gave an update about the project at the show, which was held Oct. 5-8 in Calcutta.
“The plastic manufacturing units are not working at the optimum level due to shortage of trained workforce,” Seth said. The government-owned Central Institute of Plastic Engineering & Technology (CIPET) currently trains about 30,000 workers annually at 14 centers around the country.
CIPET trains shop floor workers, but Bipin M. Shah, president of the Plastindia Foundation, said processors also need managerial, finance and marketing workers.
IPF offers a six-month course, including two months practical training. The group recently signed a deal with the National Skill Development Council, so now IPF students will also receive a NSDC certificate, which is recognized by some employers.
