Aluminium major Nalco signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Utkal University on the occasion of its 37th Foundation Day in Bhubaneswar recently.
The Utkal University will collaborate with Nalco on taking up research, baseline and impact assessment survey for CSR projects, industry and institution interactions, and skill development.
Utkal University Vice-Chancellor, Ashok Das said as a part of the pact, Nalco will also facilitate vocational training and provide internships to students of the university. “We will take up research projects for Nalco in specific areas,” he said.
With skill development being the new mantra in job market, Nalco has tied up with several institutions like National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), National Skill Development Fund (NSDF) in an effort to create more skilled manpower. “The MoU with Utkal University is another step in this direction,” said Nalco Chairman and Managing Director, Tapan Kumar Chand. Nalco will also collaborate with the premier university for research and development and conduct impact assessment surveys, he added.
Apparently, Nalco has been in the forefront among industries in the Skill India movement by imparting skill development training to more than 16,000 people last year and increasing the target to 18,000 during 2016-17. Utkal University, on its part, has decided to implement skill training in its upcoming second campus. Work on the campus is scheduled to begin this year at Chandikhole. It would primarily be a skill development centre and the university’s rural outreach hub where students will be given skill training in collaboration with industries in the vicinity.
Balvinder Kumar, Secretary of Mines Ministry, Government of India, inaugurated Nalco’s Centre of Excellence in Skill Development at Gothapatna in Bhubaneswar.
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