Future Group ties up with NSDC, to train seven million people

ew Delhi: Future Learning, the education arm of Kishore Biyani-led Future Group, has tied up with the government-backed National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to train seven million people in handloom, carpentry and retail services, among other areas, over 10 years.
 
The company will open 1,680 multi-skill training centres across India, according to the agreement with NSDC. Future Group plans to hire as many as 650,000 people from these centres over the next decade for its group companies including Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd and Future Capital Holdings Ltd.

“Currently, we give employment to around 150,000 people both directly and indirectly,” Goutam Roy, chief operating officer of Future Learning, said on Friday. “This number will be 800,000 in 10 years, and invariably we will source our requirement from our skill centres.”
Muralidhar Rao, chief executive of Future Learning, said the entry into education has the potential to generate revenue of around Rs. 1,000 crore for the group over the next decade. Last year, the company had started management education centres.
As part of the financial arrangement, NSDC will give a loan of Rs. 38 crore to Future Group and buy a 10% stake for Rs. 5.4 crore in the skill development unit, Future Sharp. The rest will come from the the parent. The investment in the venture will total Rs. 58 crore.
Dilip Chenoy, managing director of NSDC, said that by tying up with big corporate houses, his organization will achieve the target of training 150 million people by 2022. NSDC is backed by the Indian government and industry bodies as the first public-private partnership to promote skill development in the country.
Information technology education firm NIIT Ltd on Friday also tied up with NSDC to train seven million people by 2022 across sectors with an investment of Rs. 377 crore.
Vijay Thadani, chief executive of NIIT, said the partnership will give the company “an opportunity to reach out to a vast audience whose need for skill development has largely remained unaddressed, thus furthering our objective to develop talent and create employable workforce”.
Separately, Agre Developers Ltd, Future Group’s mall management arm, on Friday said its shareholders have approved a proposal to merge three group firms—Future Realtors India Pvt. Ltd, AIGL Holding and Investments Pvt. Ltd and Prudent Vintrade Pvt. Ltd—with itself. The merger would be pending approval from the Bombay high court.