Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, has signed a major agreement with Airbus India Private Limited for launching the skilling centre in aviation and logistics due to the acute shortage of skilled manpower in the two industry sectors. This is an outcome of productive discussions with officials from Assam’s Transport, Skill, and Industries Departments.

IIT-G will establish a centre in aviation and logistics with comprehensive training and development programs under the newly inked partnership. The training and development programs would be tailor-made to provide people with the skills needed for the relevance of the changing dynamics of the industry.

During the initial phase of the collaboration, Airbus will be providing the trainers, training materials, and tools from its Airbus Beyond catalog for short-term courses. Gradually, IIT Guwahati’s faculties will also get support from Airbus under its ‘Train the Trainer’ programmes, which would empower the facility to conduct Airbus courses independently while maintaining the provided curriculum and standards. The co-development of long-term courses in later stages is also envisaged under the partnership.

Skilling Centre would be located in IIT-Guwahati campus. It shall have the necessary support and coordination, extending from Government of Assam and other northeast states. The course structuring, induction of students, besides all basic infrastructure and logistic requirement shall be provided by IIT-G.

Assam’s Chief Minister, Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, elaborated, “This will bring valuable knowledge sharing besides shaping the future of aviation. Focus shall be placed on transportation, hospitality, skilling, and logistics, thereby creating substantial growth opportunities. We will ensure scholarships are provided to the students so that they can excel in this new vocation.”.

The agreement forms a critical stride toward solving the gap in skills related to aviation and logistics sectors. IIT Guwahati will now emerge as an important stakeholder to help create a very highly skilled manpower base for these two crucial industries.