Rayat Bahra VECV Automotive technology center inaugurated in Mohali

July 23, 2011, Mohali: The Rayat Bahra VECV Automotive technology centre was inaugurated by Hon’ ble Cabinet Minister, Punjab Government, Mr. Tikshan Sood and Mr. Vinod Aggarwal, CEO of VE Commercial Vehicles Limited (A JV between Volvo and Eicher Motors) at a glittering ceremony in Mohali today.

The state-of-the-art automobile lab at the Mohali campus of Rayat Bahra Education group has been established as part of the Industry-Academia model to educate students on the latest automotive technology covering manufacturing techniques, supply chain management and customer service management. This will help students to be Industry Ready on completion of the course and be absorbed in organizations with minimum orientation and training. This would also meet the skilled manpower requirements of the automotive sector which is already facing acute shortage of skilled human resources and minimize the gap between what is taught in institutes and what is required by the industry. The training centre is equipped with modern training aids like dynamic cutaways, Wall charts, Practice units and Technical publications which are both comprehensive and pictorial, covering most scientific way of repair maintenance and overhauling of Commercial Vehicles.

The following courses will be offered to students at the Mohali center:

• Automobile Technology Certificate course for school drop-outs.
• Motor Mechanic Vehicle and Diesel mechanic Course as per NCVT syllabus (ITI program)
• Degree in automobile engineering.
• Post Graduate Diploma in automobile engineering.
• Masters in automobile engineering.

This set up will also be used as Regional Competency Development Centre of VECV for training Eicher dealership personnel of North Region

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Vinod Aggarwal, CEO, VECV said, “The institute has been set up as part of the Industry-Academia collaborative model established by us to meet the skilled manpower requirement of the automotive sector. The auto sector which contributes to five per cent of the country’s GDP is expected to be the seventh largest in the world by 2016. The Industry is already facing acute shortage of skilled man power, with the automotive mission plan envisaging requirement of 25 million people by 2016. Our Social Responsibility program has been designed to meet this critical gap”.

“This focused initiative to address the growing scarcity of technologically skilled manpower makes VECV a pioneering CV Manufacturer in India to have taken the lead in addressing this issue”, he added.

Liberalization coupled with modern technology and low cost manpower base has made India, a prime destination for global auto majors. Today there are more than 35 original equipment manufacturers compared to 10 in 1980. In commercial vehicles, India is the fourth largest global market. With vehicle production going up and with entry of new players, there is greater need for manpower, both at manufacturing units and at dealerships. Low availability of skilled manpower resource is one of the key areas of concern for the auto sector. There is significant gap between the industry needs and the available skill base in the country. Industry-Institute collaboration is essential to bridge this gap.

This is the third industry-institution joint venture initiative of VECV. The other two centres have been set up in Ahmedabad with ITI-Kubernagar and in Mysore with National Institute of Engineering. First batch of 60 students have graduated from our Ahmedabad centre and all have been absorbed by VECV. Students coming out from our different centres will be offered opportunities at our Manufacturing locations/dealerships.

However, they are also free to join any other company as well.

Disclaimer: All statements included or incorporated by reference in this media release, other than statements or characterizations of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry, management's beliefs and certain assumptions made by us. Although VE Commercial Vehicles believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement was made, and VE Commercial Vehicles undertakes no obligation to Update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. No assurance can be given that actual results, performance or achievement expressed in, or implied by, forward-looking statements within this disclosure will occur, or if they do, that any benefits can be derived from them.