The National Skill Development Corporation, (NSDC) is a one of its kind, Public Private Partnership in India, under the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship. It aims to promote skill development by catalyzing creation of large, quality, for-profit vocational institutions.
NSDC provides funding to build scalable, for-profit vocational training initiatives. Its mandate is also to enable support systems such as quality assurance, information systems and train the trainer academies either directly or through partnerships. NSDC acts as a catalyst in skill development by providing funding to enterprises, companies and organisations that provide skill training. It will also develop appropriate models to enhance, support and coordinate private sector initiatives. The differentiated focus for the 21 sectors under NSDC’s purview and its understanding of their viability will make every sector attractive to private investment.
Vision
NSDC was set up as part of a national skill development mission to fulfil the growing need in India for skilled manpower across sectors and narrow the existing gap between the demand and supply of skills. The Union Finance Minister announced the formation of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) in his Budget Speech (2008-09): “…There is a compelling need to launch a world-class skill development programme in a mission mode that will address the challenge of imparting the skills required by a growing economy. Both the structure and the leadership of the mission must be such that the programme can be scaled up quickly to cover the whole country.”
Mission
- Upgrade skills to international standards through significant industry involvement and develop necessary frameworks for standards, curriculum and quality assurance
- Enhance, support and coordinate private sector initiatives for skill development through appropriate Public-Private Partnership (PPP) models; strive for significant operational and financial involvement from the private sector
- Play the role of a “market-maker” by bringing financing, particularly in sectors where market mechanisms are ineffective or missing
- Prioritize initiatives that can have a multiplier or catalytic effect as opposed to one-off impact.
Objective
To contribute significantly (40 per cent) to the overall target of skilling / up-skilling 400 million people in India by 2022, mainly by fostering private sector initiatives in skill development programmes and to provide funding.
NSDC is a not-for-profit company set up by the Ministry of Finance, under Section 25 of the Companies Act. It has an equity base of Rs. 10 crore, of which the Government of India holds for 49%, while the private sector has the balance 51%.
To ensure superior decision-making, the NSDC requires a structure and governance model that provides it with autonomy, stature and continuity. Thus, the organisation has a tiered decision-making structure comprising:
- National Skill Development Fund (NSDF)
- The Board of Directors
- Board Sub Committees
- Executive Council.
Each has a clear-cut role in NSDC’s operations, activities and strategy to facilitate the organisation’s mandate of coordinating and stimulating private sector skill development programmes with enhanced flexibility and effectiveness.
The 14 member Board has 5 government nominees and 9 are private sector members.