In the Conference on Future of Jobs organized by CII- Ministry of Labour and Employment, Rajendra Mehta, Group CHRO at Suzlon Group, shares his perspective on green jobs and skill development to build a future-ready workforce for renewables in India. He also shed light on how India progresses in the renewable energy sector and the role of stakeholders in the timely implementation of renewable energy initiatives to achieve the nation's energy goals by 2030.
Following are the key insights:
In the span of 2025 to 2030, there would be additional 500 gigawatts of non fossil fuel and 500 gigawatts of non fossil fuel energy mix that would witness in 2030. From the current capacities that the renewable energy has, solar energy will multiply three times, wind energy will multiply two times, and hydro energy will multiply approximately 1.5 times. Hence, by 2030 50% of the energy mix will derive from renewable sources, providing huge opportunities for green jobs across these three sectors can bring about in the energy mix in the years ahead. From stakeholder’s point of view, they need to take on a leadership role in this initiative. It is also crucial to empathize with the cause of renewable energy as climate change remains one of the government's biggest agenda.
Stakeholders need to communicate so that the traction of these implementations of renewable initiatives take shape and the delivery implementations happen on time, and within the timelines that the government has specified. India's GDP growth is expected to reach USD 5 trillion by 2030, which will enhance the urbanization that is likely to happen. It will also bring a lot of data centers in India, marking the most significant uptake currently anticipated. Besides, adopting electric vehicles will spur the demand for electric energy, emphasizing the need to focus on the energy mix and its uptake.
The gigahertz of energy growth so far has been about 5%. However, an uptake will increase to 7% over the next two years. Wind energy capacity additions are likely to be about 122 gigawatts by 2030. At the same time, the European Union's commission export policies are also pushing the CNI, the corporate and institutions to ensure the renewable inputs that happen in the product manufacturing. So, these areas ensure that the drive for renewable energy will have stronger demand in the near future.
Currently, the total implementation of gigawatts in wind energy is about 47 gigawatts. However, the potential for wind energy is vast, with an estimated capacity of 1,164 gigawatts, a huge opportunity that needs to be leveraged. The Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) means that the fuel and the energy cost from a fossil input to a nonfossil input, whether solar or wind, give you a very economical value of energy cost. This cost-effectiveness is expected to drive an actual increase in renewable energy adoption as the economic advantages of renewables become increasingly important. Green hydrogen initiatives are likely to ensure that an additional 125 gigawatts of energy intake will happen. With favorable demand drivers or domestic demand, the schemes in place are seen as favorable for the growth of renewable energy in the coming years. Presently, the capacity implemented is about 47 gigawatts of wind energy, and 36 gigawatts of wind pipelines are already in the commissioning stages. By 2030, the target is to reach 100 gigawatts of wind installations, with 83 gigawatts having high visibility at this stage. Three broad pillars would be the key drivers of renewable from a wind sector wind perspective. The first is onshore, followed by offshore and manufacturing capacities, which the nation has a very marginal portion of that is being utilized. The nation already has 16 gigawatts of manufacturing capacity, with around 8 to 9 gigawatts being utilized for internal and export usage. This also presents an opportunity to leverage these capacities for international markets further.
From an employment perspective, the wing energy industry employs around 150,000 people. With the new capacity that will come into effect, there will be an additional 120,000 more jobs. Each job created in this industry has a multiplier effect, generating between 4 to 10 indirect jobs. Hence, in wind energy itself, direct or indirect employment will contribute approximately 10 lakh minimum by 2030. The employment growth in this field is anticipated to be 9-10%, contributing significantly to the job market in the coming years. In terms of product development, windmills are considered an ingenious delight—every aspect of engineering, whether electrical, mechanical instrumentation or aerodynamics, is engaged.
As technology grows, the skills required will largely be artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to perform remote maintenance of turbines. Hence, there will be heaps of rise will occur in the IT industry, mainly in areas related to wind turbine technology, manufacturing, and R&D. Investments spent on the composites would go up by about 25 to 30%, with research and development expenses to increase by a minimum of 50%. For India to become a destination for product innovation, the focus should be on creating products and building intellectual property (IPs) domestically. It is essential to ensure that the scaling of people must be in the right direction with industry needs, equipping them to be industry-ready. One of the main advantages of the wind energy industry is its strong rural presence. As Wind farms are often located in remote areas, it creates substantial employment opportunities for youth in rural regions.
Considering India's demographic and educational landscape, there are about 371 lakh overall youth aged 15 to 29, with a male-to-female ratio of nearly 60-40%. The average literacy rate stands at 74.4%. Employability rates for men are about 71.5%, whereas for women, they are about 47.53%. In terms of education, the total engineering colleges produce around 15 lakh students annually, while around five lakh students graduate from diploma colleges every year. However, if the employability of these students is not there, it's likely to end up in a social challenge of how to ensure that they are trained to be upskilled in the skills that wind energy requires. The employability rate amongst the graduates is about 55%, and the Industry standard meeting rate is just about 45%.
As skill levels increase, employability rates starts to go down substantially. This area is a key focus for improvement, with the aim of creating an education system that prepares students for specific industries, such as engineering for automotive, wind energy, or healthcare. The curriculum needs to be customized to make sure that students are job-ready as they graduate. In the renewable energy industry, there is a huge demand for expertise in renewable technologies, sustainability practices, environmental science, and data analysis.
India holds a significant amount data, spanning over the past 25 years, but lacks the workforce capable of analyzing and monetizing it. Even though the efforts are being made, the ability to train students and workers takes time. Hence, stakeholders need to collaborate to bridge this skills gap effectively. The policy recommendation emphasizes the need to change the overall traditional education system. Over the past few years, educational institutions like IITs and IIMs have expanded, but the academic quality at tier-two and tier-three institutions has declined. So, it is essential to rework the curriculum, which is not traditional but meets industry standards.
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