By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, February 11, 2016 : Haunted by growing unemployment in the state, the Naveen Patnaik government has sought help from the Asian Development Bank [ADB] to launch Odisha Skills Development Project (OSDP) with an investment of Rs 1,051 crore.

The project will be implemented on “Hub and Spoke Model”, an initiative first of its kind in the country, officials said here.

Out of a total investment of Rs1,051 crore, the ADB will extend support for Rs 662 crore and the State Government will bear the remaining Rs 389 crore, sources added.

This project will help in setting up eight Advance Skill Training Institutes (ASTIs), which will work as hubs and 30 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) to serve the purpose of spokes, sources said.

The Odisha Skill Development Society (OSDS) in its Executive Committee meeting held recently presided over by Development Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary, Finance R Balakrishnan has given the final shape to the project, sources added.

Locations of ASTIs would be finalized soon. Initially, ASTIs will start operating from temporary campuses and full-fledged campuses will be set up in various places in the State subsequently.
PricewaterhouseCoopers is likely to prepare detailed project report of all ASTIs. There will five bid packages for a) Design and Build of ASTI, b) Construction Supervision, c) Equipment procurement, d) Operations and maintenance of ASTI and Project Management Unit (PMU) support for OSDS.

The private operator will make independent assessment of the revenue potential of each ASTI and based on independent assessment, the bidders will submit technical and financial bids for operations of ASTI network for 8 years. On clearing of technical bids, financial bids would be opened. Bidder would be awarded contract on the parameter of highest aggregate contribution to OSDS over 8 years and the former need to provide performance bank guarantee to OSDS,

A full-time Chief Executive (CE) of OSDS will be appointed to look after the ambitious project and for the time being Employment Mission Director will hold the CE post to expedite the process, said sources in Government.

The number of jobless persons in the state crossing the 10 lakh figure. Official statistics show that more than 12 lakh jobless persons had registered with the 80 state-run employment exchanges in 2014. Over 2.6 lakh graduates aspiring for jobs in the State as Odisha almost topped the country with a high of around 15 per cent unemployment rate among graduates in 2014.