New Delhi – March 30th, 2022: Tech Mahindra, a leading provider of digital transformation, consulting, and business re-engineering services and solutions, today announced the launch of the ‘Alliance for Skill and Capacity ENhancement with Technology (ASCENT), to support quality vocational training and enhance employability amongst youth in India. The project is in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH within the framework of the develoPPP programme, which GIZ implements on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The project implementation on the ground will be supported by Tech Mahindra Foundation (TMF).

ASCENT aims to train 10,000 urban youth in the allied sectors of Healthcare, Logistics and Digital Technologies based on the German Dual Vocational Educational Training (DVET) model to make them job-ready as per the specific industry requirements. The project foresees sustainable linkages with the industry through outreach, advocacy, placement aggregation, and job portal development (specifically for the healthcare sector).

CP Gurnani, MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra, stated: “India currently has one of the world’s largest talent bases and sharpening focus on enhancing skills in new-age technologies will expedite achieving the dream of India becoming a five trillion dollar economy by 2025. Our collaboration with GIZ and Tech Mahindra Foundation is a significant step towards creating a skilling and knowledge ecosystem. We believe this will enable us to bridge the skill gap and provide the next generation of the workforce the opportunity to build a better, sustainable future for themselves and the global economy.”

Dr Julie Reviere, Country Director, GIZ India, stated: “The German model shows the importance of private sector involvement – indeed, leadership – in developing a skilled workforce. India has tremendous potential that can be realised through state-of-the-art skilling, which targets the needs of the private sector and utilising the resources of both the government and the private sector. This project builds on India’s strong IT ecosphere and applies it to the country’s broader skilling needs. The results will have an impact for years to come.”

The partnership aims to further strengthen Tech Mahindra’s focus on reskilling and upskilling the workforce based on relevant digital skillsets, in sync with current and future industry requirements. The collaboration aims to leverage Tech Mahinda’s sector and technology expertise with GIZ’s private and public sector network, to create a skilling ecosystem supplemented by a repository of knowledge that can benefit the industry and partner ecosystem.

Dr Rodney Reviere, Head of GIZ’s skilling portfolio in India, stated: “GIZ is extremely pleased to be able to work with Tech Mahindra on such an exciting and innovative project. The pandemic has starkly revealed the current limitations to online skilling approaches, methodologies and technologies. Together with Tech Mahindra, this project will pilot new approaches that can help students learn more actively and thereby be better prepared for a productive future.”

Rakesh Soni, Chief Executive Officer, Tech Mahindra Foundation (TMF), stated: “In tune with the larger mandate of the Government of India’s Skill India Mission, we have been working in the area of employability through our SMART programme. An association with an organisation like GIZ will further strengthen our efforts in establishing a robust vocational education training ecosystem as part of our work across the country.”

It will create a pool of trainers with improved pedagogy and technical training that will contribute to the overall ecosystem as well as enhance the teaching-learning experience of participants by employing technological interventions, including Augmented Reality/ Virtual Reality (AR/VR) curriculum as well as self-paced learning content. The project will further initiate collaboration with the Directorate General of Trade (DGT), which is responsible for managing the public vocational training system through the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in India, for training selected ITI trainers and provide them access to e-content developed under the project for various courses.

This project also foresees the development of robust monitoring and reporting framework as well as knowledge dissemination during and after the completion of the project. It also aligns with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 8 of ‘Decent work and economic growth’, SDG 3 of ‘Good Health and Well-being’, SDG 4 of ‘Quality Education’, SDG 10 of ‘Reduced Inequalities’ and SDG 17 of ‘Partnerships for the Goals’.

Tech Mahindra believes in DigitALL philosophy for comprehensive business transformation. Digital technologies catalyse the transformations – they humanise businesses by helping them think, sense, connect, communicate, secure and act better than before. As part of NXT.NOWTM framework, which aims to enhance ‘Human Centric Experience’, Tech Mahindra focuses on investing in emerging technologies and solutions that enable digital transformation and meet the evolving needs of the customer.

About Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a federal enterprise with worldwide operations. It supports the German Government in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development and international education. GIZ assists people and societies in shaping their own future and improving living conditions. develoPPP is a funding programme of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and is implemented by GIZ. It is aimed at companies that want to invest sustainably in a developing or emerging country and expand their local operations. Prerequisites for support are a long-term business interest in the country and a sustainable developmental benefit for the local people. Know more http://www.giz.de/en

About Tech Mahindra Foundation

Tech Mahindra Foundation is the corporate social responsibility arm of Tech Mahindra Limited, a Mahindra Group Company. The Foundation set up in 2006, as a Section 25 Company (referred to as a Section 8 Company in the Companies Act, 2013), has been working tirelessly in the areas of education, employability and disability, with a keen focus on corporate volunteering. With its vision of 'Empowerment through Education’, the Foundation has been trying to bring social changes across the communities through its variety of programmes.

Launched in the year 2012, SMART (Skills for Market Training) is Foundation’s flagship employability programme to empower youth from economically backward urban communities. As part of the same, the Foundation initiated SMART Academies with the intent to offer advanced and longer-term courses in some specialised vocations. At present, there are eight Tech Mahindra SMART Academies, including four SMART Academies for Healthcare, three SMART Academies for Digital Technologies and one SMART Academy for Logistics. These academies were set up with a twofold goal – to create, build and nurture youth to develop advanced industry-specific skills related to healthcare, digital technologies and logistics, and transform them into world-class professionals. Know more https://www.techmahindrafoundation.org/

About Tech Mahindra 

Tech Mahindra offers innovative and customer-centric digital experiences, enabling enterprises, associates and society to Rise. We are a USD 5.1 billion organisation with 121,900+ professionals across 90 countries, helping 997 global customers, including Fortune 500 companies. We are focused on leveraging next-generation technologies, including 5G, Blockchain, Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, and more, to enable end to end digital transformation for global customers. Tech Mahindra is one of the fastest-growing brands and amongst the top 15 IT service providers globally. Tech Mahindra has consistently emerged as a leader in sustainability and is recognised amongst the ‘2021 Global 100 Most sustainable corporations in the World’ by Corporate Knights. With the NXT.NOW framework, Tech Mahindra aims to enhance ‘Human Centric Experience’ for our ecosystem and drive collaborative disruption with synergies from a robust portfolio of companies. We aim at delivering tomorrow’s experiences today and believe that the ‘Future is Now’.

We are part of the Mahindra Group, founded in 1945, one of the largest and most admired multinational federation of companies with 260,000 employees in over 100 countries. It enjoys a leadership position in farm equipment, utility vehicles, information technology and financial services in India and is the world’s largest tractor company by volume. It has a strong presence in renewable energy, agriculture, logistics, hospitality and real estate. The Mahindra Group has a clear focus on leading ESG globally, enabling rural prosperity and enhancing urban living, with a goal to drive positive change in the lives of communities and stakeholders to enable them to Rise.

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For more information on Tech Mahindra, please contact:

Abhilasha Gupta, Global Corporate Communications and Public Affairs
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]

Dr. Rodney Reviere, Head of Programme, Indo German Programme on Vocational Education and Training II, (IGVET II), GIZ India

Email: [email protected]