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S’pore companies, education institutes to work with Odisha on skills development, green energy
First published online at The Straits Times
See the NTU media release here
Image: Professor Madhavi Srinivasan, Executive Director of the Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N), signed the agreement on behalf of NTU Singapore, alongside Mr Debi Dutta Tripathy, FA-cum-Additional Secretary to the Government of Odisha’s Energy Department, and Professor Prasant Kumar Sahu, Dean of Alumni Affairs and International Relations, IIT Bhubaneswar. The signing was witnessed by Minister for Transport & Second Minister for Finance, Singapore, Mr Chee Hong Tat
Picture credit: World Skill Center
BHUBANESWAR, India – Singapore companies and institutes of higher learning will work with Odisha to bolster the eastern Indian state’s capabilities in skills development and green energy production, among other things.
This includes a joint training programme by Singapore’s ITE Education Services (ITEES) and Odisha’s Skill Development and Technical Education Department (SD&TE), which will tap the Republic’s expertise in the semiconductor field and equip young Indians with skills tailored to their country’s growing semiconductor industry.
The countries’ partnership in green energy will also get a boost.
Sembcorp Green Hydrogen India, a subsidiary of Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries, and Odisha’s Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation signed a non-binding agreement to establish a green hydrogen manufacturing facility in Paradeep, Odisha.
They will also look at setting up a green shipping corridor, with a focus on producing sustainable fuel from green hydrogen, and the fuel’s potential applications.
The memorandum of understanding was among eight such agreements signed in the state’s capital of Bhubaneswar on Jan 17, in a ceremony witnessed by Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the World Skill Centre.
Mr Tharman is currently on a state visit to India that will end on Jan 18.
The centre, set up by ITEES in 2021, serves as a finishing school for those from India’s industrial training institutes. Under one new agreement, it will offer more vocational training courses in areas such as hospitality, visual merchandising and aerospace avionics. The agreement, signed by ITEES and SD&TE, is expected to further build the skills development ecosystem in Odisha.
Other agreements aim to strengthen academic ties between Singapore and India, and help build Odisha’s infrastructure.
One will facilitate research on sustainable energy technologies between Nanyang Technological University, the Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, and Odisha’s Energy Department.
Another is between Sembcorp Development and Odisha’s Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation, to assess the feasibility of setting up an industrial park in Odisha.
In the fintech space, Singapore’s Global Finance & Technology Network will work with Odisha’s Electronics and Information Technology Department to establish a centre in the Indian state to encourage the development of the insurance technology industry.
And Surbana Jurong will work with two Odisha state agencies to provide consultancy services for petrochemical projects and a city development near Bhubaneswar.
Semiconductors and skills development had been identified as among new areas for bilateral collaboration at the second edition of the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable held in the Republic in August 2024.
The agreements signed on Jan 17 also build on the upgrading of Singapore-India relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Singapore in September 2024.
Speaking at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan or the presidential palace in New Delhi the day before, Mr Tharman had noted that India has high ambition for Odisha, and that the state “has great promise”.
While India has its Viksit Bharat @ 2047 road map that seeks to ensure the country emerges as a “developed nation” by 2047, Odisha has its own target of 2036. The state, which has ambitions to be a growth engine of India, is eyeing a US$500 billion (S$684 billion) economy by 2036, and a US$1.5 trillion economy by 2047.
In Bhubaneswar, Mr Tharman was joined by a business delegation from Singapore.
Among the members was ITEES chief executive Suresh Natarajan, who said Odisha’s state officials are very “sincere and eager” to use the skills development industry as a means to benefit their people.
“That makes our approach a little easier, because when we put in certain kinds of programmes based on the Singapore model, it may not fit exactly... so there has to be some give and take on both sides to implement something workable.”
Earlier in the day, Mr Tharman was called on by Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and members of the Odisha government.
He was later briefed on economic strategies and opportunities in the state by senior Odisha government officials.
