- First-ever comprehensive Training Need Assessment for India’s stainless steel sector, commissioned by Jindal Stainless and conducted by PwC, covers 1,904 respondents across 9 states
- Study highlights the gap between industry ambition and workforce readiness
- Industry-led training makes students over 5 times more job-ready in stainless steel
National, July 15, 2026: Reinforcing the need to build a future-ready workforce for India’s growing stainless steel sector, India’s first comprehensive Training Need Assessment (TNA), commissioned by Jindal Stainless and conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers India (PwC) reveals that only 1 in 3 independent fabricators in the manufacturing ecosystem are skilled. The study, covers 1,904 respondents, including 629 fabricators, 575 workers, 250 employers, and 450 students, across nine states – Gujarat, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand, making it the most geographically comprehensive workforce study undertaken for the sector.
India’s stainless steel sector is growing at a rapid pace with the Indian government’s focus on sustainability and long-term infrastructure. There is a rising demand from railways, renewable energy, coastal infrastructure and advanced manufacturing but the workforce that fabricates, processes, and installs stainless steel across the country is not fully equipped to handle the nuance and scale of requirement. To establish the evidence base needed to address this gap systematically and uplift the base of the manufacturing ecosystem, Jindal Stainless commissioned PwC to conduct an independent, ground-level assessment of workforce readiness across the stainless steel value chain.
Commenting on the launch of the study, Managing Director, Jindal Stainless, Mr Abhyuday Jindal said, “India’s stainless steel industry is poised for sustained growth, but long-term competitiveness will depend on the availability of a skilled and future-ready workforce. This study gives us, for the first time, a ground-level and evidence-based picture of where that workforce stands today and where the gaps are deepest. The findings reinforce why we established our education and skilling initiative, Stainless Academy. We remain committed to working with industry, academia, and the Government to build the talent infrastructure this sector needs, and that India’s manufacturing ambitions demand.”
The findings reveal both the depth of the challenge and the cost of leaving it unaddressed. The numbers showcase a stark divide within the ecosystem: 65% of organised sector workers are skilled, compared to just 33% of independent fabricators, underscoring the need to extend structured training opportunities across the broader fabrication ecosystem. This gap has a direct economic consequence. Trained fabricators earn nearly 14% more than their untrained counterparts. Skilling, in other words, is not a welfare measure but an income multiplier. Encouragingly, 52% of fabricators expressed willingness to undergo future training, signalling strong demand for structured skilling initiatives.
This gap does not resolve itself in the next generation, either. At the student level, 58% feel only moderately prepared or completely unprepared for an industry job, exposing a largely unaddressed disconnect between academia and what the industry actually needs. The study points to a clear and data-backed solution: students who received training through industry-led interventions reported job preparedness levels of 93%, compared to just 18% among those relying solely on institutional programmes.
Looking ahead, the pressure for the workforce to evolve is only going to intensify. Employers are already anticipating significant disruption: 21% believe manual welding roles could become redundant within the next three years due to automation, while 33% identify computer operation as the most in-demand skill of the near future. Quality Check Staff and Skilled Welders already rank as the two hardest-to-fill roles across the sector, indicating that the skills most needed are precisely those least available. The challenge, as the study makes clear, is not the absence of a workforce. It is the transition of an existing one.
About Stainless Academy
Stainless Academy is an education and skilling movement by Jindal Stainless with the objective of building a skilled blue- and white-collar workforce for the stainless steel ecosystem across country through industry-aligned training, curriculum development, specialized courses for ITIs/ Polytechnics/ Engineering colleges, and MSME cluster development.
About Jindal Stainless
India’s leading stainless steel manufacturer, Jindal Stainless, had an annual turnover of INR 42,955 crore (USD 4.86 billion) in FY26 and is ramping up its facilities to reach 4.2 million tonnes of annual melt capacity in FY27. It has 16 stainless steel manufacturing and processing facilities in India and abroad, including in Spain and Indonesia, and a worldwide network in 12 countries, as of March 2026. In India, there are ten sales offices and six service centres, as of March 2026. The company’s product range includes stainless steel slabs, blooms, coils, plates, sheets, precision strips, wire rods, rebars, blade steel, and coin blanks.
Jindal Stainless relies on its integrated operations to enhance its cost competitiveness and operational efficiency. Founded in 1970, Jindal Stainless continues to be inspired by a vision for innovation and enriching lives and is committed to social responsibility.
Jindal Stainless remains focused on a greener and sustainable future. The company manufactures stainless steel using electric arc furnace, a process that significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions and allows for recyclability of scrap without compromising on quality.