The Infrastructure Equipment Skill Council (IESC) has appointed Anand Sundaresan, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Schwing Stetter India as Chairman.

As part of this new role, he will be responsible in introducing progressive initiatives that will benefit the skilling industry in the country. Prior to taking over the IESC, Sundaresan is the immediate past President of the Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association (ICEMA).

The IESC is a ‘not for profit’ organisation promoted by the ICEMA and subsidised by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to spearhead, skilling of workforce in the infrastructure equipment sector with primary focus on training and certification of operators and mechanics. The Council with 18 founding members from the ICEMA was formed in Jun 2014 with the Memorandum of Association being formally charted and approved. In Aug 2014 the Council was registered at Delhi under the Societies Registration Act 1865, and later in Nov 2014 established its Head Office at Bengaluru (Karnataka).

On being appointed as Chairman of IESC, Sundaresan said, “In India, we have always had a deficit in manpower especially in the infrastructure and construction industry. As the government has been focusing on introducing and implementing policy reforms that will create huge employment opportunities, we at IESC hope to take a region-wise approach and ensure that the benefits of skilling, reach all parts of the country. We seek the support of other equipment manufacturers for providing trainers and the user industry in proactively deputing their employees for skill training. Moreover, if the government makes it mandatory to employ only skill-certified operators in the industry it will help to increase performance standards and instil safety practices while handling construction equipment.”

Sundaresan comes with over three decades of experience in various Indian and multi-national companies. He joined SCHWING Stetter India, in 1999 as Executive Director and became Managing Director in January 2002 and Vice-Chairman and Managing Director in 2013. Previously, he was also the President of the Employers Federation of South India (EFSI).