The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India, and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH India, on behalf of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, have signed an agreement for the Indo-German Solar Partnership Project (IGSEP). The objective of this project is to support the installation of solar rooftop PV systems in the states of Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Daman & Diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli.

IGSEP is supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and additional funds of €1.5 million have been allocated for iRISE (India PV Rooftop Installer Skilling and Employment), a pilot project designed to provide youth skills training and vocational education in the solar sector.

Under this new activity, the IGSEP project aims to upskill solar installers (aka Suryamitras) through capacity building, vocational education and employment of youth in the solar sector. The projected growth of the solar sector is 40% over the next five years. With an estimated 40,000 Suryamitras currently targeted for upskilling, a total of 100,000 Suryamitras need to be trained by 2030 to sustain this growth. Keeping in mind this requirement for skilled manpower in the solar sector, GIZ has contracted Renewables Academy AG (RENAC) to implement iRISE. During the project kick-off, an inception meeting was conducted in Ahmedabad in January 2020 with other partners including RENAC, the Alliance of Indian MSMEs (AIM), Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI) and Skills Council for Green Jobs (SCGJ). iRISE aims at upskilling 10,000 Suryamitras, developing 250 trainers, providing in-company training for solar installation specialists, establishing training labs on solar PV and electric vehicle charging, developing qualification packs for electric vehicle sector, and offering vocational education to a selected group of Suryamitras.

For more information on iRISE, please write to Mr. Joerg Gaebler (Joerg.gaebler(at)giz.de) or Mr. Kuldeep Sharma (Kuldeep.sharma(at)giz.de)