SCGJ Soon To Bring Skill Gap Report On India's BESS Market: Arpit Sharma (CEO)

One of the mandates of SCGJ was to do skill gap studies, what is the latest update on this? 

We recently completed a skill gap study on solar energy storage with TERI, which is yet to be launched. We plan to release it by March 2026. We have also completed a skill gap study on bioenergy with support from GIZ, which has been launched but will be published soon. Both the energy storage and bioenergy reports should be shared within a month.

We are also revising our earlier solar skill gap study in collaboration with NRDC and CEEW. The revised version includes new sectors such as green hydrogen, bioenergy, energy storage, and solar-wind hybrid. The updated report should be ready by June or July this year.

How you see solar jobs outlook and employment potential?

India has a target of 500 GW of renewable energy capacity, and the focus is now on unlocking employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. Based on our research and industry consultations, we estimate total renewable energy employment generation of about 21.13 lakh jobs between 2025 and 2030.

Breaking it down sector-wise:

Wind energy: Around 70,000 jobs by 2030 with ~52 GW new capacity additions.

Utility-scale solar and off-grid solar: More than 5 lakh jobs with ~150 GW additions.

PM-KUSUM solar pump programme: Around 8 lakh jobs, driven by strong entrepreneurship opportunities.

Rooftop solar: Another 8 lakh jobs, making it one of the largest employment generators, especially with the plan to electrify one crore households.

Rooftop solar is likely to create the maximum employment in the coming years.

What has been your biggest achievement in solar skilling so far?

Under the PM Surya Ghar-related programmes, we trained and certified 20,500 solar helpers in 2025 across more than 100 training centres. Over 50% have already been employed by solar vendors.

Based on this success, we have received a new target to train 30,000 additional solar helpers in 2026, and we aim for at least 65% placement.

We developed nationally approved curricula, training handbooks, and facilitator guides. These are seven-day training programmes approved by MNRE and the National Council for Vocational Education and Training.

Has your curriculum been adopted by educational institutions?

Yes. ITIs, engineering colleges, and universities have started revising their curricula to include solar job roles. These curricula are now being used in solar PV training programmes across institutions.

What initiatives are being taken to increase women’s participation?

Rooftop solar has strong potential to create women-led enterprises. We trained 1,000 women from the SEWA self-help group in the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat. Over 50% of them are now employed in the solar sector.

We also trained several hundred women in Maharashtra with support from the Asian Development Bank. In some training programmes, women’s participation exceeded 56%. Rooftop solar is more conducive for women as it enables local entrepreneurship and installation work.

Is the industry aware of available trained manpower?

There is still a lack of awareness about government skilling initiatives. Many companies do not know how to recruit trained manpower from the Skill Council for Green Jobs. We are addressing this through workshops on solar, green hydrogen, agri-PV, and building-integrated PV. Awareness is improving, and we expect stronger industry engagement this year.

Are you training workers for solar manufacturing as well?

Yes. With technical support from Adani Group, we developed a solar manufacturing curriculum. Over 500 people have been trained, and around half have already been employed in module manufacturing. Training includes both classroom sessions and on-the-job training at manufacturing facilities.

What about emerging sectors like batteries and hydrogen?

Following our battery energy storage skill gap study, we will develop new curricula and nationally approved qualifications. Training programmes should begin by September, with a target to train 250 professionals in battery storage this year.

We have already developed 12 nationally approved qualifications in green hydrogen, and more than 5,000 candidates have been trained. The Hydrogen Mission alone is expected to create 6 lakh jobs by 2030.

Any final message for the industry?

Training and recruitment must go hand in hand. Industry participation is crucial to ensure trained candidates find employment. We are working closely with stakeholders and will continue releasing research and training initiatives to support India’s clean energy workforce.