There will be a huge crisis of trained manpower if even 20 per cent of the projects that were announced during the VGGIS 2009 are implemented. The GCCI has realised the significance of the situation and is coming up with new courses, finishing schools and workshops to provide industry-ready people to the companies.

The GCCI has initiated programmes where fresh graduates will get firsthand experience from industry experts.

For instance, the Vadodara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) will sign an MoU with the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) to develop a finishing school in Vadodara.

The school will provide technical support and expertise to train fresh graduates. This is being done to support the SMEs in and around Vadodara.

“This is being done to provide trained manpower to the SMEs. Like multinational companies they don’t have their own training centres. We will facilitate the industry with the help of the finishing school.”

The GCCI is already running courses for training fresh graduates in language, IT and accounting skills. Last year, the chamber had organised a programme, FOCUS, to educate students in English, computers and communication skills. This time it has launched a course on accounting where students learn about advance taxation and accounting packages.

Rupesh Shah, president GCCI, said: "We have launched a three month course to provide training. We keep it short so that we can train as many students as we can."

Apart from this, the industry is also banking on 33 institutes and universities, which are being planned in Gujarat in the next few years. "Although training the students comes under the purview of the universities and institutes, we are putting in effort from our side," Shah added.

The South Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI) has already come up with a programme where students are selected from their colleges to do 'on job training' before they graduate.