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 On World Youth Skills Day, Vedanta Aluminium, India's largest producer of aluminium, reaffirmed its commitment to scaling up skill development programmes for rural youth, helping them learn employable skills and find livelihood opportunities.

Through various skill development initiatives, the company has, till date, helped more than 12,000 youth get trained in solar energy technology, housekeeping, industrial sewing, machine operations, tailoring, food and beverage, electricals, fitting and welding, advanced agriculture etc., and find lucrative employment in various industries.

Speaking about the company's approach, Rahul Sharma, CEO, Vedanta Aluminium, said, "Creating sustainable livelihoods through skill development is fundamental to our vision for sustainable development in the regions where we operate.

"India's future aspirations hinge on its young, talented workforce having the right skills as the future of work evolves rapidly. By creating avenues for the local youth to get trained in such skills, Vedanta Aluminium is helping them seek gainful employment both within their communities and beyond, thereby transforming the socio-economic fabric at grassroots."

Earlier this year, Vedanta Aluminium launched a skill development programme for the communities in the vicinity of its alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in Odisha's Kalahandi district.

The first batch of 29 students who underwent this programme are now employed with some of India's top hospitality sector players.

This is significant since Lanjigarh is located in one of the remotest regions of India, with not many education and livelihood opportunities for the youth to chase their aspirations.

The success of Vedanta Aluminium's skill development programme is encouraging many other youngsters to come forward and enrol for subsequent phases of the programme.

Niharika Durga, who was one of the trainees in the programme, said, "I would like to thank Vedanta for providing placement-linked skill training which has opened up a world of opportunities for me. I am very happy to share that I have successfully completed the three-month training programme and got employment with Ramoji film city, Hyderabad, which has consequently brought happiness to my family. I am the first girl in my family to have secured such a good job. My parents are very proud of me."

Vedanta Aluminium has established Subhalaxmi Co-operative, one of India's largest rural women's co-ops, at Jharsuguda in Odisha, where the company operates one of the world's largest aluminium smelters.

With a presence across 72 villages in Odisha and over 4100 women members, the co-op enables aspiring women entrepreneurs with micro-finance, skill development, financial literacy and market linkage. More than 1,800 women have already benefited from its skill development programmes in financial literacy, enterprise development, business management, and trades like sewing, animal husbandry, farming, mushroom cultivation, etc.

Similarly, through Jeevika Samridhhi, a land and water management programme being run in Jharsuguda, Vedanta Aluminium has helped more than 300 farmers get trained in advanced agricultural practices such as crop plan, harvest and management, package of practices (PoP), organic farming, natural pest management, etc.

Jeevika Samridhhi aims at increasing farmers' income by encouraging adoption of, and training them in, advanced agriculture practices through agri-scientists from Krishi Vigyan Kendra and other agricultural research institutes.

In Chhattisgarh, Vedanta Aluminium has established three Skill Schools in Korba, Kawardha and Mainpat through which more than 10,000 youth have been trained in various trades.

The Vedanta Skill School provides robust technical education designed as per the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).

Graduates from these schools have found employment with some of India's leading companies in power, steel, automotive, solar and hospitality industries. Vedanta Skill School has been imparting these trainings in convergence with government schemes like Mukhya Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (MMKVY), NABARD, Skill India Impact Bond (SIIB) and National institute of Solar Energy (NISE).