SIAM to set up Asia's first auto online varsity

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers' (SIAM) will shortly set up Asia's first 'online university' to cater to the education needs of the booming automobile sector fraternity.

The courses -- being started as part of the Automotive Mission Plan (AMP) 2006-2016 wherein e-learning has been identified as a major initiative for future growth -- will comprise basic training modules for freshers as well as special courses for upgradation of skills to the existing workforce.

SIAM is associating with US-based institute, Adayana, the course content provider, while the National Institute of Automotive Service and Excellence will certify this courses.

The AMP has 25 key recommendations focused on attracting an incremental investment of Rs 1,60,000 to 1,80,000 crore ($35-40 billion) over the next 10 years. The turnover of the industry is expected to touch Rs 6,67 000 crore in 2016 -- 4 times the current turnover.

Given these expectations, the new centre of higher learning is gearing to meet the manpower requirement of the Indian automotive sector, which is expected to absorb an additional 25 lakh jobs -- both directly and indirectly "� over the next 10 years.

SIAM will begin with half-a-dozen online courses -- right from machine tool training that's a shopfloor need, to devising long-term marketing strategies for vehicle makers. It plans to start courses on designing, manufacturing, sales, servicing and planning.

Initially these courses would meet the manpower requirements of SIAM's member companies like Tata Motors, Maruti Udyog, Honda Siel Car, Ford Motor, DiamlerChrysler, Bajaj Auto, Hyundai Motor Indian Limited and General Motors.

A senior SIAM functionary said: "We hardly have any institutes and training facilities to meet the specialised requirement of automobile sector. After introducing these tailor-make courses, we would meet the specialised manpower demands of the auto sector. These courses would initially be based on the needs of the auto industry and later broadened to admit freshers to propel growth in the automotive sector."

SIAM states that over 200,000 people are currently employed in vehicle manufacturing, another 250,000 in component companies and another 10 million at different levels of the value chain.

"We have the benefit of numbers, but to become a global automotive hub, human resources would be a key factor in determining growth. Our training curriculum would be a low-cost solution both generic to industry and customisation to individual companies," the functionary added.