* To positively impact students across 700 education institutions

* The first in a series of joint regional events aimed at strengthening India’s skilling ecosystem

Bhopal, April 17, 2025: Reliance Foundation and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) launched Future Ready Skills Initiative to empower 5 lakh students across 700 educational institutions, including colleges, polytechnics, and ITIs in Madhya Pradesh. The initiative was launched at the MP Future Ready Skills conclave organised today at Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya. 

Aligned with the National Education Policy 2020 and the Skill India Mission, the Future Ready Skills Initiative offers 100 courses in emerging fields like EdTech, Cybersecurity, and Artificial Intelligence to prepare India’s youth for jobs of tomorrow. At the end of the course trainings, students will undergo AI-proctored online assessments to evaluate their proficiency in the courses, ensuring fair and secure evaluations. 

In February 2024, Reliance Foundation and NSDC announced their partnership, followed by the launch of the Reliance Foundation Skilling Academy in September 2024.

The MP Future Ready Skills conclave is the first in a series of regional events by the two organisations. Policymakers, industry leaders, and academia discussed integration of skilling with mainstream education while students shared impact of their skilling journeys. 

Delivering the keynote address at the conclave, Shri Raghuraj Rajendran, IAS, Secretary, Technical Education, Skill Development & Employment, Government of Madhya Pradesh, emphasised the critical role of aligning with the industry requirement in skill development and technical education for a rapidly evolving job market. “All stakeholders in the skilling process need to take up the responsibility for suitably facilitating an environment where skilling happens with quality, utility, efficiency, sustainability and also provides timely access to everyone,” he said. 

Shri Ved Mani Tiwari, CEO of NSDC and MD of NSDC International, said, “The initiative will transform the future of over 5 lakh students by giving them practical skills in fields like AI, cybersecurity, and others. By aligning education with industry needs, we are preparing our youth to lead India’s technological revolution. Through quality training, industry partnerships, and proper assessment, we are taking  concrete steps towards Prime Minister Modi’s vision of making India the skill capital of the world.”

Smt. Nupur Bahl, Head, Skilling, Reliance Foundation, said, “At Reliance Foundation, we believe that future-ready skills are not just about adapting to change — they are about leading it. Through our partnership with NSDC and higher education institutions across the country, we are expanding access to high-quality skills trainings that empower young people. Together, we aim to build a workforce that is agile, resilient, and equipped to thrive in the jobs of tomorrow.”

The Future Ready Skills Initiative aims to drive the establishment of placement cells, international certification alignments, industry partnerships, and online student outreach. For effective delivery of courses, a series of Training of Trainers (ToT) programmes will be conducted for lecturers and professors in identified higher education institutions. Students also earn credits from their institutions up on course completion. So far, the Future Ready Skills Initiative has reached more than 1 lakh youth in various other parts of the country.

At the conclave in Bhopal, experts discussed key issues such as aligning education with industry advancements, updating curricula to integrate emerging technologies, strengthening industry-academia collaboration, and emphasising soft skills.

Panellists included Shri Niraj Sahay, Director, External Relations, SSRGSP; Shri Alok Kumar, CEO, NSDC International; Smt. Nupur Bahl, Head, Skilling, Reliance Foundation; Dr. Sudhir S Bhadoria, Director, University Institute of Technology, RGPV; Shri Vijay Bajpai, CHRO, Symbiotic Pharmalab Pvt Ltd; and Prof. (Dr.) Lt Gen R K Anand, COO, KEDMAN.

Students shared their skilling journeys with the Future Ready Skills Initiative, highlighting the critical role the initiative plays in empowering youth with real-world, industry-relevant skills. 

To access courses under the Future Ready Skills Initiative, visit Reliance Foundation Skilling Academy www.rfskillingacademy.com. 

About NSDC

Giving boost to Indian Government Skill India Mission, NSDC, a nodal skill development agency, working under the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Government of India, is a unique Public Private Partnership (PPP) that aims to catalyze the creation of a large and quality vocational training ecosystem in India. Since inception, NSDC has trained over three crore people in different sectors through its collaboration with training partners pan India. NSDC has established 37 Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) and implements the Government’s flagship skill development schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), among others. NSDC also funds enterprises, companies and organizations that provide skill training. The organization enables private-sector capacity building in skill development by offering concessional loans, other innovative financial products, and strategic partnerships. For more information, please visit https://nsdcindia.org.