New Delhi, Dec 3 (IANS): India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday signed a $85 million loan agreement to improve the skill development eco-system in Odisha and set up an advanced skill training centre - World Skill Centre (WSC) - in Bhubaneswar.

The project will improve the quality of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programs in the state by making them relevant to industry and demand driven, and will impart occupation-ready skills training, an official statement said.

"It would also complement the efforts to target the employment needs of the emerging sectors in India and globally," said Finance Ministry Additional Secretary Sameer Kumar Khare after signing the loan agreement on behalf of Indian government.

ADB's India Resident Mission Country Director Kenichi Yokoyama, who signed the Odisha Skill Development Project, said it will engage Singapore-based ITE Education Services (ITEES), a unit of the state-owned Institute of Technical Education (ITE).

ITEES will support Odisha Skill Development Authority in setting-up and operationalizing WSC which would offer internationally bench marked advanced training programs for the working age population of Odisha, Yokoyama said.

The project aims to help 1,50,000 people learn skills in priority sectors like manufacturing, construction and services. The WSC will deliver eight training courses for 13,000 full-time students, train 5,000 teachers and 1,000 assessors.

It will improve the overall eco-system of skill development in Odisha by providing integrated services through an entrepreneurship incubation center, a career counseling and placement center, a curriculum design and development center and education technology deployment center, the Finance Ministry statement said.

These important functions of WSC will support a network of government ITIs and develop skills and capacity of polytechnics, college of engineering and other private skilling centers.

ADB will also administer a $2 million technical assistance grant from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, financed by the Government of Japan that will support capacity development activities under the project.