Team India announced for WorldSkills International Competition 2019
- 48 participants from 17 States and UTs will represent India at the 6-day biennial competition to be held in Kazan, Russia from 22 - 27 August 2019
- Candidates selected through 500+ district, state, regional and national level competitions across the country
- The average age of competitors is 22, the youngest being 17 years
National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) under the aegis of MSDE has been leading India’s delegation at this biennial event since 2011. During the last edition at Abu Dhabi in 2017, India won one silver, one bronze and nine medallions of excellence. India also finished 19th out of 56 countries which participated at this event, making it India’s best performance since its participation at this event.
Journey to WorldSkills 2019
The selection of Team India for WorldSkills 2019 began in January 2018, with the roll-out of a scheme on IndiaSkills Competitions. More than 22 states collaborated and organized close to 500 district and state-level competitions between March and April 2018. The winners at these events competed at four regional competitions organized at Jaipur, Lucknow, Bangalore and Bhubaneswar.
The winners from the regional competitions further competed at the National Competition organized from 2ndto 6th October 2018 at Aerocity Grounds in Delhi. Since then, the selected candidates have been undergoing rigorous training and have also participated in international competitions in order to hone their skills and gain the required experience. Most competitors have also received training at international centres which has significantly enhanced their skills.
Team India includes participants from all over the country, including 6 from the North-Eastern region. 77% of these come from tier 2 and tier 3 cities and can speak 10 different languages. Most of these competitors come from a very humble background, with 35% have their parents either employed in the agriculture sector or are working as daily wage earners.
Announcing the Team India, Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey, Minister for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship said, “Through WorldSkills Competition, we aim to provide opportunities to the youth in our country to compete with, and learn from, their peers across the globe. Such initiatives also help us benchmark our skills to international standards and will improve the overall quality of vocational training in India. It is a proud feeling to witness the passion, effort and dedication with which these young competitors are preparing for the WorldSkills. I congratulate each one of them for their journey so far and wish them the very best for all their future endeavours. I believe they will inspire future competitors and all those who aspire to excel in their careers through vocational training.”
Partners
More than 100 corporates and education institutes including Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra, Toyota, Festo, VLCC, Godrej, Axalta, Apollo, Berger Paints, Cisco, Caple, Saint Gobain, Institute of Hotel Management (IHM), Schneider, Pearl Academy, NTTF, Daikin, L&T etc. have come forward to support this initiative. These corporates have also helped in identifying a master trainer/expert who provides hands-on-training to each competitor and monitors their progress on day to day basis.
With the sixth-largest contingent at WorldSkills this year, Team India aspires to improve on its performance from the last competition (Abu Dhabi, 2017) and win laurels for the country.
Details of the competitors are as follows:
| S. No. | Name | Skill | State |
| 1 | Nidhin Prem | 3D Game Art | Kerala |
| 2 | Sri Ganesha Ananda | Aircraft Maintenance | Karnataka |
| 3 | Suraj | Autobody Repair | Uttarakhand |
| 4 | Tushar Phadatare | Automobile Technology | Maharashtra |
| 5 | Farukh Ahmed | Bakery | Tripura |
| 6 | Mahima Gandhi | Beauty Therapy | Uttarakhand |
| 7 | Md. Ramjan Momin | Bricklaying | West Bengal |
| 8 | Keshar Singh Rajput | Cabinet Making | Rajasthan |
| 9 | Govind Kumar Sonkar | Car Painting | Uttar Pradesh |
| 10 | Soumyajit Dutta | Cloud Computing | Punjab |
| 11 | Ganesan. R | CNC Milling | Tamil Nadu |
| 12 | Abinash Swain | CNC Turning | Odisha |
| 13 | Dharavat Naresh | Concrete Construction Work | Telangana |
| 14 | Amit Yadav | Uttar Pradesh | |
| 15 | Angad Singh Rana | Cooking | Delhi |
| 16 | Shubham Singh | Cyber Security | Punjab |
| 17 | Swapnil | Delhi | |
| 18 | Vaibhav S. Raut | Electrical Installations | Maharashtra |
| 19 | Manoj Kumar | Electronics | Haryana |
| 20 | MedhaDevgan | Fashion Technology | Bihar |
| 21 | Jibin Williams | Floristry | Kerala |
| 22 | Shweta Ratanpura | Graphic Design Technology | Maharashtra |
| 23 | Utkarsh | Hairdressing | Uttar Pradesh |
| 24 | Thasleem.Mohideen | Health and Social Care | Tamil Nadu |
| 25 | Abhinav | Hotel Reception | Himachal Pradesh |
| 26 | Divya Umesh Godse | Information Network Cabling | Maharashtra |
| 27 | Gursheesh Singh | IT SSB | Chandigarh |
| 28 | Sanjoy Pramanik | Jewellery | West Bengal |
| 29 | Vikash Kumar Naga | Joinery | Rajasthan |
| 30 | Xenophon Das | M-CAD | Odisha |
| 31 | Sumanth.S.C | Mechatronics | Karnataka |
| 32 | Munjunatha. D | Karnataka | |
| 33 | Omkar ShivalingGurav | Mobile Robotics | Maharashtra |
| 34 | Rohan RavidraHanagi | Maharashtra | |
| 35 | Sahil Kapil | Painting and Decorating | Chandigarh |
| 36 | Saurabh Baghel | Patisserie and Confectionery | Uttar Pradesh |
| 37 | Raji Reddy Methuku | Plastering & Drywall Systems | Telangana |
| 38 | M Vishwanathan | Plastic Die Engineering | Tamil Nadu |
| 39 | Himanshu Vohra | Plumbing and Heating | Punjab |
| 40 | ShrenikJ.Gugale | Print Media Technology | Maharashtra |
| 41 | Abhishek A N | Prototype Modelling | Karnataka |
| 42 | Rahul Jangra | Refrigeration and Air Conditioning | Haryana |
| 43 | Vaidehi Pant | Restaurant Service | Uttarakhand |
| 44 | Ankit Anand | Visual Merchandising | Bihar |
| 45 | Mohammed Rabith K | Wall and Floor Tiling | Kerala |
| 46 | S. Aswatha Narayana | Water Technology | Odisha |
| 47 | Pranav Nutalapati | Web Technologies | Karnataka |
| 48 | GolipallyKoteshwar Reddy | Welding | Telangana |