Japan-headquartered global building materials major Lixil Group Corporation has launched Project Nadee, its flagship skilling programme for India’s plumbing community, in a bid to “strengthen its alignment” with the government’s Skill India initiative.
“While business performance and strategy are important for any market, we at Lixil take pride in doing more for the communities in which we operate. To this end we have launched Project Nadee, which aims to transform the industry in a 360° way. This massive project is in line with Lixil’s aim of transforming the end-to-end home solutions experience in order to make it easy, enjoyable, and of true value to the consumer,” said Bijoy Mohan, CEO for Lixil Asia Pacific.
With Project Nadee, Mohan added, the company is taking the lead in creating a digitally enabled industry platform to solve a large problem that has the potential to hinder industry growth, if not resolved. Being a leader in the industry, it is “best placed” to address the issue as it can influence the entire value chain towards this purpose.
He informed, “Project Nadee is designed to create an ecosystem that uplifts the livelihoods of the plumber community in India by empowering them with the requisite skills and training, and certifying them to create employment opportunities and get more youth into the trade. This will address the demand and supply gap for this key skill in our industry, and more importantly we hope to make this trade more economically viable for the plumbers in India.”
Mohan added, “Under Project Nadee, Lixil aims to upskill and certify 20,000 plumbing technicians as commercially licensed plumbers, along and in compliance with the relevant qualification standards as approved by IL&FS Skills Development Corporation Limited.”
Underlying the USP of Project Nadee, Lixil’s skill development platform offers a mobile platform with work leads, M-Learning and open jobs, and face-to-face training certification. Also, linkage of plumbers to industry, and three levels of certification which include level 3 from Germany have been worked out.
“Lixil is also planning to open 1,000 stores in India and the dealers will have direct access as a potential link up for plumber leads. This will increase employment opportunities for plumbers. Residential developers and builders will also be put in touch with these plumbers in due course for work leads and jobs.”
Kinya Seto, president and CEO of LIXIL Group Corporation, has said, “India is a priority market for Lixil and presents tremendous opportunities for our growth. Our combined strengths of Japanese heritage, world-leading technology and consumer centricity, position us well to succeed in the Indian market. We will continue to invest strategically in our business here to offer pioneering water and housing products that solve everyday, real-life challenges.”
Japan’s Ambassador to India HE Kenji Hiramatsu added on the occasion of the launch of Project Nadee in India, “Last September the Japan-India relationship entered a new era, the bilateral relations have never been as strong as today. I believe that enterprises and private companies synchronise well with government efforts, and I’d like to congratulate Lixil in its endeavour to contribute to the Indian government’s growth visions. The launch of Project Nadee is a strong reflection of Lixil’s commitment to the country and the communities it operates in. This is truly an exciting time for Lixil – an iconic company
in Japan – in India, and I am excited by the opportunities the market presents for growth and socio-economic impact.”