India, Japan Plan New Skills Roadmap to Boost Workforce Mobility

India and Japan are moving to build a more structured workforce mobility framework, with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) deciding to develop a comprehensive India-Japan Skills Roadmap to prepare Indian youth for employment opportunities in Japan and align training more closely with Japanese industry requirements.

The roadmap was identified as the key outcome of the India-Japan Stakeholder Consultation on Skill Development held in New Delhi on August 14. The meeting brought together representatives from the Ministry of External Affairs, State Governments, Sending Organisations, Japanese government agencies, industry, recruiters and training partners.

The initiative builds on the Action Plan for India-Japan Human Resource Exchange and Cooperation, adopted during the 15th India-Japan Annual Summit in August 2025. The plan targets a two-way exchange of 500,000 people over five years, including 50,000 skilled personnel and potential talents from India to Japan.

The consultation comes as Japan prepares its new Employment for Skill Development Programme (ESDP), which is set to reshape the existing Technical Intern Training Programme (TITP) framework. Discussions therefore focused on linking ESDP with existing TITP and Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) pathways while improving technical training, Japanese-language proficiency, cultural orientation, assessment and pre-departure preparation.

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Jayant Chaudhary said Indian youth must be equipped with the skills, confidence and workplace understanding needed to access global opportunities. Japanese Ambassador Ono Keiichi highlighted the complementary strengths of Japan's demand for skilled workers and India's large young talent pool.

MSDE Secretary Debashree Mukherjee stressed the need to align candidate mobilisation, domain skills, language training, assessments and employer requirements.

Three sessions examined TITP, SSW and ESDP implementation, the 2025 Human Resource Exchange Action Plan, and direct employer requirements. Japanese participants included JICA, JETRO, Japan Foundation, METI and other institutions, while companies including Toyota Kirloskar, Konoike Group, Sompo Care, Zenken Corporation and Fourth Valley provided industry perspectives.

India already has an institutional base for the partnership. Japanese companies have established Japan-India Institutes of Manufacturing and Japanese Endowed Courses, which have created a talent pipeline of 30,000 people since 2016.