• The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has collaborated with the World Economic Forum to launch the ‘India Skills Accelerator’ initiative.

• The initiative will function as a public-private collaboration platform to enable cross-sectoral efforts for unlocking innovative ideas.

• As India navigates rapid technological and economic change, skill gaps cited by 65 per cent of organisations as a major barrier threaten to slow progress. 

• The Accelerator aims to close these gaps through inclusive upskilling and reskilling, mobilising investment in lifelong learning, and fostering government-industry collaboration.

• By enabling agile career transitions, promoting scalable training, and aligning education with industry needs — especially in high-growth sectors like AI, robotics, and energy — the initiative will empower India’s youth and drive future-ready workforce development.

At its core, the Accelerator aims to catalyse change across three critical levels:

i) By improving awareness and shifting mindsets around future skills needs.

ii) Increasing collaboration and knowledge sharing among stakeholders.

iii) Committing to upgrade institutional structures and policy frameworks to support a more adaptive and responsive skilling ecosystem.

• The initiative’s governance structure includes key stakeholders from public and private sectors, led and co-chaired by Jayant Chaudhary, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

It will also have two private co-chairs: 

i) Shobana Kamineni, executive chairperson of Apollo Health Co

ii) Sanjiv Bajaj, chairman and managing director of Bajaj Finserv.

World Economic Forum

• The World Economic Forum is an independent international organisation committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. 

• It was founded in 1971 as the European Management Forum.

• To reflect its global membership and the fact that economic policy was at the forefront of its activities, the European Management Forum changed its name to the World Economic Forum in 1987.

• Incorporated as a not-for-profit foundation and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the Forum is tied to no political, partisan or national interests.

• The Forum is chaired by founder and chairman of the Board of Trustees Klaus Schwab. 

• The Forum’s commitment on facilitating progress on systemic challenges is taken forward through its 10 Centres, each applying the institution’s unique combination of impact methods to drive holistic efforts. The Centres build communities of purpose essential to addressing large-scale global challenges.

• World Economic Forum annual meeting is held in January in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.

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