India will require about 83 lakh skilled persons in the telecom sector in the next five years, a top official of the Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC) said today.

Of the requirement, nearly 38 lakh hands will be needed in the manufacturing segment, predominantly for mobile phones, and the remaining in various segments like services and back operations, TSSC CEO S P Kochhar told reporters here.

In order to strengthen skill development in the telecom sector, TSSC has signed MOUs with PSG College of Technology and PSG Polytechnic to set up a Telecom Skill Development Centre in the region, he said.

This would help complement each other’s technical capabilities and industry reach, to achieve a common goal of skilling India in the telecom and ICT domains, he said.

Stating that both will synergize their efforts and conduct approved courses, resulting in improved proliferation of ICT courses in India, Kochhar said that the centre will help in promoting and supporting the Digital India and Make in India initiatives of the central government.

PSG College of Technology Principal R Rudramoorthy said that the MoU was path-breaking and unique in consolidating the efforts and resources of two major entities, which will help in bridging the employability gap and creating a specialised, skilled workforce.

In a short span of three years, TSSC has already enrolled 3.64 lakh and certified 2.90 lakh people in various segments of the telecom sector, Kochhar said, adding that the council today has more than 140 industry partners, 569 academia partners, eight assessment partners, 26 state government partners and 507 training partners.

During this year alone 1.25 lakh people will be registered in the council, he said.

With Taiwan recently becoming an international partner, TSSC is going to sign an agreement with a firm in the US within one month, he said.