Ready talent pool attracted us to AP: Kia Motors

​Erramanchi (Anantapur district): For drought-prone Anantapur district dotted by denuded hillocks, Kia Motors' $1.1-billion Greenfield car plant is no doubt a game changer. But why did the South Korean auto giant choose Andhra Pradesh for its Indian foray when other states like Gujarat and Maharashtra lobbied hard for its presence? One of the key reasons that tilted scales in AP favour seems to the availability of trained talent pool in the Telugu state.

"One of the advantages with Andhra Pradesh is that there is a large trained talent pool available in the State. We are pretty much satisfied with the talent and in terms of education levels here. That's one of the reasons why Kia has selected Andhra Pradesh," Manohar Bhat, Head-Marketing & Sales, Kia Motors India, said on the sidelines of trial production ceremony at thenew car plant near this village in Penukonda area of backward Anantapur district.

The Kia plant put up in 536 acres off National Highway 44, currently has close to 1,300 employees. The Korean automaker will eventually employ over 3,000 people at the plant equipped to produce 3 lakh cars a year. The company's vendors from India and South Korea which set up component manufacturing units in two vendor parks near the plant will employ additional 7,000 people, taking total employment generated by the mega project to 10,000.

Dr K Lakshminarayana, Director, Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC), told The Hans India here that his corporation helped Kia Motors in sourcing talent and training them. "Our people conducted training for over 1,000 people for Kia Motors", said Dr K Lakshminarayana. A retired IAS officer who worked with TDP founder N T Rama Rao for over eight years, he recently released a biography on the actor-politician titled 'NTR A Biography'. "We also trained car painters for the carmaker. After initial training here, it took them to South Korea for further training," he said.

According to him, polytechnic in Anantapur has a skill development centre while JNTU Anantapur has a Centre of Excellence where the training programmes for unemployed youth are being conducted. “We even have robotics and 3D printing here. Kia team visited these facilities before signing the agreement with the AP Government for car plant,” he said.

Further, Kia Motors established a 5-acre training facility near the plant and introduced a Basic Training Course in automobiles to provide the necessary skills for an entry-level job on the factory floor. "This course has been designed in collaboration with APSSDC for anyone wishing to work in the automobile sector," Kookyum Shim, Managing Director and CEO, Kia Motors India, said in his address on Tuesday. On the number of people trained by APSSDC in AP, Dr Lakshminarayanasaid that more than 8.6 lakh people were trained so far.