With digitalisation driving across the value chain, skill development becomes imperative for the entire power sector, says Ravi P Singh
Electricity is a source of energy, which has the capacity to change the world. Power is and will be a part of our lives for as long as the mind can imagine. A city dweller will have to take extreme efforts to disconnect with power, even momentarily. Even a villager cannot think of surviving without Power, such intimate is our present relationship with Power.
It is a fact that India is one of the biggest economies in the world. The Government’s “Make in India” initiative, will lead to a huge spurt in industrialisation, as a consequence of which, demand for power will increase. The rural electrification projects under the Government’s Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojna (DDUGJY) and PM’s Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya Scheme) to electrify over 3.89 crore households, and increasing per capita energy consumption will further add to the demand for Power. According to the National Electricity Plan, by the year 2026-2027, there will be the demand for 2047 billion units of electricity in the country.
Skill gap in the sector
Due to the high demand for electric energy, the demand of skilled and trained people in this area will increase. It is estimated that the Power Sector will need an additional 16.6 lakh skilled manpower by 2025. Meeting this demand for additional skilled manpower in the entire chain of the power sector and downstream value-added services will be a challenge for the sector. This situation is unfolding right now as we discuss, not in some distant future.
The irony is that despite demographic dividend in our favor, the sector is not able to take advantage. The Demographic Dividend occurs when the proportion of working people in the total population is high, which indicates that people have more potential to be productive and contribute to the growth of the economy. This is happening because the power sector faces an enormous shortage of workers with requisite competencies. With digitalisation driving across the value chain, skill development becomes imperative for the entire sector and all the more so in the distribution segment.
Distribution companies need to undertake measures like smart metering, smart grid technology, switching to renewable sources of energy, adoption of Blockchain in managing distributed energy resources and Artificial Intelligence. All of this calls for upscaling of existing workforce and preparing future power sector professionals to make strong impacts.
The need of the hour is to have well-established training institutions to train and fill the scarcity of astute power sector professionals. Considering this, Power Sector Skill Council (PSSC) has engaged capable training partners who are providing meaningful training to the workforce.
The writer is Chief Executive Officer, Power Sector Skill Council