Germany and Australia are showing “a lot of interest” in Indian electric vehicle (EV) technicians and linemen, but “we are avoiding that question because the skill gap internally is so huge”, said Vinkesh Gulati, chairperson of the Automotive Skills Development Council (ASDC).
Gulati responded to a question from the panel at the Autocar Professional EV Conclave on Tuesday about how soon Indian component makers could achieve global standing.
On the home front, the shortage of EV skills is most acute outside authorised service networks, where independent repairers may be the first point of assistance when a vehicle breaks down, Gulati said. “The problem is not the authorised or the system.”
Most EVs on Indian roads are still under warranty, he said, but owners may need help from nearby independent workshops when a vehicle stops working. ASDC is working with component manufacturers and vehicle makers to retrain workers in the aftermarket, including those who have already had to adapt to earlier regulatory changes, such as the transition from BS4 to BS6 emission standards.
Gulati said the industry still had work to do to ensure enough trained manpower was available as EV volumes grew. He also described a wider problem in workforce planning: skills development often begins too late in the product development and manufacturing process.
Companies may spend considerable time developing and testing a product before considering the skills needed to manufacture, operate and maintain it at scale, he said. That delay can create a bottleneck when a new product reaches the market.
He also criticised the way some factory-location decisions are made. Companies and state governments often focus first on land allocation and tax incentives, he said, without giving comparable priority to developing a local workforce.
Gulati suggested that training programmes should begin while a factory is being built, with nearby villages identified as potential sources of workers. That could help employers find suitable staff while expanding employment opportunities around new industrial sites.
He also argued that human resources teams need a more prominent role in strategic planning. “Somewhere in the strategy meeting, the HR guy has to sit, which I don’t see any industry do,” he said.