Kerala Government has joined hands with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) to set up a skill development institute in the state to meet the increasing demand for skilled workforce in the country and abroad. State Labour and Skill Development additional chief secretary Tom Jose and BPCL Executive Director (Kochi Refinery) Prasad K Panicker signed an MoU in this regard in a function here today.
The state-of-the-art institute, to be set up on eight acres of land in Ettumanoor in Kottayam district. “The focus area of the new SDI will be hydrocarbon sector and overseas employment. The syllabus and duration of the course and modalities for recruitment are yet to be decided,” Panicker said. He added that they would soon meet the labour department and Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE) officials to finalise the same.
BPCL has envisaged the SDI in Kerala as part of the decision of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to set up skill development institutes in various parts of the country to bring out the best of the youth and enhance their employ-ability in the oil and gas industry and other sectors. Under the plan, each major oil and natural gas public sector undertakings, including IOCL, ONGC, BPCL, HPCL, OIL and GAIL volunteered to set up on skill development institutes and BPCL selected Kerala for this. A society of the PSUs would be formed to run the institute and the cost would be shared among the oil companies.
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