MUMBAI: India lags behind in vocational education and training (VET), with only 2.3% of the current workforce having undergone skills training as compared to 68% in the UK.

According to a report commissioned by the City & Guilds Group, a global leader in skills development, India could benefit substantially from additional investment in VET. In comparison to India, the report said in the UK, a 10% increase in professional and technical skills over the next ten years could increase UK GDP by £163 billion by 2025. ``In the UK and US, a 10 percentage point increase in the number of 16-18 year olds enrolled in vocational education could lead to a 1.5 percentage point reduction in youth unemployment,'' the report said, while adding that an increase in investment in VET could see significant returns for India’s economy as well. The report suggests that the US will experience a shortfall of 17 million skilled workers while India will have a surplus of 47 million by 2022.

VET is, therefore, crucial to the growth and development of India. The same will help close the skills gap in other countries as well.

As per estimates made by the National Skill Development Ministry, India requires resources to the tune of about Rs 4 lakh crore to achieve the target of training nearly 500 million people while only Rs 15,000 crore has been allocated for 2015-16.

Rajesh Kaimal, head of Manipal City & Guilds said: ``India is one of the youngest nations in the world, but the future workforce needs to be equipped with the right skills so that it can contribute to India’s ongoing growth. The target set by the National Skills Development Policy of skilling or upskilling 500 million workers by 2022 is ambitious, but if it’s achieved, India will be in a competitive position compared to other developing countries in the future.''