OREANDA-NEWS. The Tata Group on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the U.K. India Business Council (UKIBC) for skill development and delivery in India.

A statement from the Tata Group said the MoU will initially include projects in Odisha and Mumbai for replicable skills training across India. The MoU was signed in the presence of David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science, U.K.

“The Tata Group of companies is keen to support the creation of skill development centres that can sit at the heart of sustainable communities in India,’’ Cyrus P. Mistry, Chairman, Tata Sons, said in a statement. “This initiative is designed to support the skill needs of large employers, as well as their supply chain of small and medium enterprises. They will seek to provide best-in-class skills, enterprise, employability and work placement in the country,” he said.

In a statement, S. Ramadorai, Advisor to the Prime Minister, in the National Council on Skill Development, and Vice-Chairman, Tata Consultancy Services, said the collaboration with UKIBC was “in keeping with the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh’s, vision to have 500 million skilled individuals by the year 2022, supporting inclusive growth investment, creation of jobs and a better demand supply connect”.

The initiative will also test and evaluate a range of innovative approaches to the development of skills and employability, particularly pioneering e-learning approaches, providing a robust evidence base for future roll-outs at a significant scale.