New Delhi, Oct 15 (IANS): The government on Tuesday announced that 14 new institutes will be set up across nine cities for advanced skill training in the media and entertainment sector.

Skill Development Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey said the 14 Authorised World Skills India Training Centers (AWSITC) would be set up in nine cities - Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Mumbai, Pune, Shillong and Thiruvanthapuram.

The new institutes are being set up for advanced skill training of candidates in the media and entertainment sector, not just to compete in the WorldSkills and IndiaSkills competitions but also to further develop the skilling eco-system for training candidates for the international market.

The state-of-the-art AWSITCs, set up in partnership with the Media and Entertainment Skill Council (MESC), will help the candidates to enhance their skill as per the global standards.

This year was India's best ever performance in the biennial WorldSkills competition. The 48-member Indian team won one gold, one silver, two bronze medals besides 15 medallions of excellence at the competition.

"With the advent of technology, skilling in the sector is gaining traction worldwide. There are lot of avenues for skilled workforce across evolving sectors like graphic design, 3D digital game art, print media. These world class state of the art centres will help in preparing the candidates to be ready in making our country proud at various competitions and also equip them with enhanced skills in order to become industry ready," the Minister said.

Renowned film-maker and MESC Chairman Subhash Ghai said: "Platforms like WorldSkills go a long way in incentivizing and encouraging people to not just learn a skill but excel at it."