Ranchi, Aug. 2: Germany-headquartered engineering conglomerate Siemens has evinced interests in setting up skill development centres in the state, in a proposal that may lend more mileage to the Raghubar Das government's ongoing campaign to hard-sell Jharkhand as an investor-friendly destination.
Sources said a team of senior representatives from the company office in Gurgaon called on state higher & technical education department secretary Ajoy Kumar Singh last evening with their offer to join hands with the government for training students who are pursuing engineering, polytechnic or diplomas in different trades. The government is considering the proposal seriously, the sources added.
"They want to set up three Centres of Excellence and five technical development centres at government and private engineering colleges, polytechnics and ITIs spread across the state. They are serious. If everything goes smoothly and we get the nod from the government, we may sign an MoU with the company in near future," Singh told The Telegraph today.
Singh further said that the proposed centres would attract a total of Rs 1,200 crore investment, 85 per cent of which would be pumped in by Siemens while the remaining 15 per cent would be borne by the government. "They have proposed to set up machineries, equipment, software, trainers for almost all engineering trades. Students would have immense job opportunities in the country as well as abroad," he added.
Director (technical education) A.K. Singh said the company was more than willing to set up Centres of Excellence in Jharkhand. "Government would first choose three technical institutes, possibly engineering colleges like BIT-Sindri that offer degree courses, where the proposed centres can be set up," he said.
On July 19, the state signed an MoU with Cisco to impart training to students in IT and ITes sectors during the roadshow in Bangalore. A similar agreement was inked with Oracle in Hyderabad next day.
Sources said Siemens proposal might boost the morale of the chief minister and team who were set to tour South Korea, Japan and Singapore between August 20 and 29 as a part of the government's ongoing publicity campaign in the run-up to the proposed Global Investors Summit scheduled for February 2017.