Shri Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurates the office and website of the Hydrocarbon Sector Skill Council (HSSC)

The Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated the Office and Website of the Hydrocarbon Sector Skill Council (HSSC) at the SCOPE Convention centre, New Delhi. The HSSC for the Oil and Gas sector, has been set up under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, in accordance with the guidelines of National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), with the aim of skill development and training of people in the hydrocarbon sector. It has been registered as a SOCIETY under the Societies Registration Act, 1860,

In the next 10 years, our country will be the largest consumer of energy sector with investments expected to be more than $320 billion. Investment in skill development at this time is investment in the sector and investment in the country’s economic growth and its future.  Hydrocarbon Sector Skill Council (HSSC)’s  vision is to be a world class skill council catering to a range of skill requirement of the hydrocarbon industry, and increasing the employability and opportunities, locally and globally.

The Minister said the energy sector has a lot of complex and crucial job roles. Right from high sea exploration levels to the point of delivery. Till now we used to learn while we earn, but now we need to learn before we begin to earn. In this sector specifically, there is a need to be cautious about safety at each step and that is only possible when we have skilled workforce which is trained. The wages in hydrocarbon sector is in between 10-15% and close to 20 lakh people work in this sector directly or indirectly. There is ample opportunity for growth and learning and to bring overall productivity to this sector. The training program under HSSC is high quality skilling training which will provide lucrative career options to many individuals We want to develop globally benchmarked workforce for the sector so that lakhs of youth can aspire for better economic opportunities.

Skill development in Hydrocarbon Sector

The main objective of HSSC is to execute skill development activities in Indian hydrocarbon sector and meet the requirements of the entire value chain of properly trained manpower in quantity and quality on a sustained and evolving basis, to improve productivity and competition in the sector. This it plans to do through development of a skill development plan for the sector, identify skill need, review international trends and identify sector skill gap and technology, develop National Occupational Standard (NOS’s) for the job roles for covering the entire sector & sub-sector.  On the occasion, Joint Secretary of Ministry and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Shri Rajesh Agarwal said, “Corporate India should leverage the reforms that the government has brought about since 2014 especially in our skill initiatives. Whether it is with regard to apprenticeship, where we are supporting through incentive schemes like – NAPS, new age job roles, studying the demand supply gap or recognising already skilled workforce through a skill certificate. We have ensured that maximum control is given to the private sector so that the standards are maintained as per market requirement.

With regard to apprenticeship, the regulatory rights have also been given to the industry and they can also set targets of how many apprentices are required. It’s a big opportunity and industries should leverage it. On the other hand, we have gradually over decades grown into an informal economy where skills were not recognized formally. The government has introduced the recognition of prior learning program which formally recognises the skills of people and also gives a finesse to their existing skill. More and more companies should aim at ensuring certified skilled workforce in the sector and other should follow it. The Hydrocarbon sector skill council should lead by example in this journey. My hearty wishes to them.”

HSSC now is fully functional with its office at HT House, KG Marg, New Delhi. In the coming days, HSSC is confident that it shall address the skill gap of the sector and work towards fulfilling the skill requirement by capitalising on the demographic dividend of India and create a pool of skilled manpower for the industry for employability both at the national and international level.