Taking a significant step towards promotion of skill development in local youth across India, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) today announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to set up 10 automotive laboratories in India.

Under this MoU, Honda plans to support 10 learning centres under NSDC to enable skill development and will provide relevant tools and equipment to these labs at Kolkata, Guwahati, Ranchi, Patna, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Vijayawada, Dehradun, Varanasi and Cuttack.

Honda will help set up a platform for students practising trade-specific skills on various aspects of vehicle maintenance and repair, thereby enabling hands-on experiential learning and getting job-ready. This tie-up is expected to benefit at least 1,200 young students by next year.

Speaking on the tie-up, Pradeep Pandey, senior vice-president, Customer Service, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, said “Honda supports the Skill India mission and signing this MoU with NSDC will further strengthen our efforts in the direction. We will develop 10 training labs under this tie-up to empower local youth across the country. This will not only provide them industry-specific skills to enhance their employability but also offer skilled technical manpower to the automotive industry.”

Further to the MoU with NSDC, Honda has also collaborated with several State Governments for the development of skilled manpower for the automobile sector. Recently Honda adopted two Government Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) at Rohtak (Haryana) and Jaffarpur (Delhi).