India, ranked among the top five global mineral producers, is poised for rapid growth as far as its mining industry is concerned. Mining, which has contributed 2.5-3% to India's GDP over the last few years, is expected to increase its contribution to 5% in the coming years.
However, lack of skilled workers is set to hit the industry, creating a demand-supply gap of over 2,200 staff by 2025, a study by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) ha said.
"Based on the estimated demand and the current supply from various educational institutes, a demand-supply gap of about 1,500 and 2,200 is expected during the period 2009-2017 and 2009-2025 respectively," the study said.
Mining engineering category is expected to witness a demand-supply gap of about 8,500 during 2009-2025 due to a lack of mineral-specific professions and huge shortage of trained operators, it said.