India’s Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos to collaborate on strengthening India’s skills and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) ecosystem, as per the official statement.
The MoU aims to strengthen multilateral cooperation in skill development, vocational education, and training, it said. Through this MoU, MSDE will collaborate with the World Economic Forum to launch and implement a Skills Accelerator in India, a multistakeholder platform aimed at identifying, scaling, and accelerating innovative solutions and public–private partnerships to address critical skills gaps in the workforce.
The Accelerator will support efforts to strengthen India’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) ecosystem by ensuring closer alignment between skilling initiatives and the evolving demands of industry and the global economy.
“This initiative will significantly benefit India by bridging critical skill gaps, enhancing the global employability of our youth, and ensuring that India’s talent pool is aligned with emerging domains such as artificial intelligence, green energy, robotics, and advanced manufacturing. By promoting industry-linked training, mutual recognition of qualifications, and innovative financing for skilling, the partnership will strengthen our TVET ecosystem, support inclusive growth, and position India as a global hub for skilled manpower and innovation in the journey towards Viksit Bharat @2047,” MSDE said in a statement.
Jayant Chaudhary, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Minister of Education, said, “What began as a strategic vision to align India’s skilling ecosystem with the future of work has now taken a structured and global form. The formalization of the India Skills Accelerator, in partnership with the World Economic Forum, marks a key milestone in building a future-ready, globally competitive workforce.”
“By bringing government, industry, and education together, the initiative strengthens coordinated action to address current and emerging skill gaps, enable outcome-based skill financing, and promote lifelong learning and alignment with global labour-market demand. Aligned with NEP 2020 and Vision India@2047, it reinforces skilling as a central pillar of inclusive growth and national transformation,” he added.
The Skills Accelerator will focus on strategically addressing skills gaps by promoting lifelong learning, upskilling, and reskilling, in line with India’s Vision @2047 and the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The initiative will encourage flexible curriculum, integration of vocational and higher education pathways, mutual recognition of qualifications, and capacity building across institutions.
MSDE will work closely with higher education institutions, vocational training institutions, and regulatory bodies such as AICTE and UGC to support awareness, implementation, and scale the Accelerator.
The Accelerator will also support innovative financing mechanisms for skilling, enable strategic coordination among key stakeholders, and identify emerging global demand and supply trends across trades and job roles to enhance international employability, MSDE said.
Special emphasis will be placed on collaboration in emerging Future of Work domains, including artificial intelligence, robotics, green energy, cybersecurity, and advanced manufacturing, alongside innovation-led activities such as hackathons and the rollout of a structured Action Plan.