New Delhi, Jan 17, 2025, IANS

New Delhi, Jan 17 (IANS) The future skills-ready Indian workforce is ready to take the country towards being ‘Viksit Bharat in 2047, even before that, as India has become one of the most prepared labour markets for in-demand skills in emerging technologies, senior officials from UK-based QS World University Rankings, world's largest global higher education network, told IANS on Friday. India has been ranked number two in the inaugural ‘QS World Future Skills Index,’ just behind the US and ahead of countries like Canada and Germany. According to Dr Ashwin Fernandes, Executive Director at Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), people always doubted India's potential and for the first time, a global index has ranked India so high by future of work, which means that the Indian industry and its workforce are ready to meet the job demands of the future. “The 2020 National Education Policy positions India for the future of work. We've already seen in the last 10 years, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, how the policies have transformed India from a ‘brain drain’ situation to a ‘Brain Gain’ one,” Fernandes told IANS. “We've seen how India today is not only positioned as a leader of the Global South but also taking an active position with its diaspora, which is holding great positions in workforces around the world,” he stressed. The India diaspora around the world has helped several countries transform their economies and now with ‘brain gain,’ “we are going to see the economy do further better. It is a shining new time for Atmanirbhar Bharat and being a Viksit Bharat by 2047, and hopefully much before 2047,” said Fernandes. The ‘QS World Future Skills Index’ has ranked India as one of the most prepared job markets for future in-demand skills in emerging technologies. Jessica Turner, the CEO of QS, said that India's skilling mission over the past decade has been very transformative. “There have been initiatives such as Skills India and Startup India, which have really empowered millions of Indians with relevant literacy, bridging some of the gap between education and employment, and really focusing on digital strategies, focusing on entrepreneurship and vocational training etc,” she told IANS. According to her, emerging technologies like AI and semiconductors are set to be a significant GDP driver for India, and investments in those areas are going to stimulate innovation. “It's really boosting some of the manufacturing capabilities in the country and attracting a lot of foreign direct investment (FDI). We believe that AI adoption alone could add about $500 billion to India's GDP this year alone. And that's really through productivity gains,” said Turner.