Delhi govt to train mechanics to repair electric vehicles

The Delhi government announced its plans to provide a comprehensive training programme for electric vehicle (EV) mechanics on Friday as part of its goal to drive the creation of green jobs in the Capital, officials said on Friday

The Delhi government announced its plans to provide a comprehensive training programme for electric vehicle (EV) mechanics on Friday as part of its goal to drive the creation of green jobs in the Capital, officials said on Friday.

An electric vehicles charging point in Delhi. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Archive)

According to a Delhi government statement, the Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University (DSEU) will design an integrated course to train students of its automobile engineering diploma programme to become EV mechanics. Every year, 100 students will be trained in basic and advanced EV mechanics and provided with relevant internship and apprenticeship opportunities, the statement said.

The DSEU, World Resources Institute India (WRI India), and Hero Electric Vehicles Ltd signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect on Friday, officials said, adding the DSEU will design the programme’s course structure and curriculum, Hero Electric Vehicles Ltd will support DSEU in designing the study material as well as provide students with practical training and internship opportunities. As the knowledge partner, WRI India will provide the required research, monitoring, and evaluation support.

“The EV mechanics training programme is the first of a series of short and long-term courses to be launched by Delhi government to make DSEU the training hub of India’s EV workforce. The collaboration formalised is a result of eight months of research and due diligence of the EV ecosystem by DDC Delhi and WRI India. The research analysis identified the lack of highly skilled EV mechanics as a potential skill gap—Delhi requires around 500 new mechanics every year. Making automotive job aspirants future-ready (skilled in EV technology) will help optimise employment opportunities so that Delhi’s transition to electric mobility does not adversely impact the employment generation in the automobile and transport sectors. The programme laid the foundation for the creation of thousands of green jobs in Delhi,” said Jasmine Shah, vice chairperson, Dialogue and Development of Delhi, the Delhi government’s think tank.

“Delhi has already emerged as India’s EV capital by accelerating EV adoption through its dedicated policy launched in August 2020. Delhi’s EV policy targets that 25% of all new vehicle registrations should be EVs by 2024, and has already achieved an average 10% share of EVs in 2022,” said Shah.