Phillips Education and Arthan Host The G.R.O.W.T.H. Dialogue in Mumbai, Bringing Leaders Together to Shape India’s Workforce Future
Mumbai, 25th September 2025: Phillips Education and Arthan convened The G.R.O.W.T.H. Dialogue,Gathering Resources and Opportunities for Workforce Transformation & Humanity—at Taj Lands End, Mumbai. The event featured a keynote address by Shri Saurabh Bahuguna, Honourable Minister for Skill Development & Employment, Uttarakhand, and brought together over 40 leaders from government, industry, academia, and the CSR sector.
The dialogue focused on India’s urgent need to equip its workforce with future-ready skills to meet ambitious targets in aerospace, defence, semiconductors, renewables, and AI. According to the World Economic Forum, 44% of current skills will be obsolete by 2030, underscoring the scale of the skilling challenge.
Satyam Vyas, Founder & CEO of Arthan and Climate Asia, emphasized that skilling is key not only to employability but also to inclusive, sustainable growth. “Investing in people is our strongest lever for the future,” he said.
Highlighting the economic impact, a McKinsey analysis cited at the event estimates that effective skilling could add $500 billion to India’s GDP by 2030. The discussions underscored the demand for specialised skills, citing examples such as the need for 15 lakh defence cybersecurity professionals by 2026.
Rakshit Kejriwal, President of Phillips Education, called for a National Skilling Coalition to bring together government, industry, academia, and CSR in preparing India’s workforce for this new industrial era. “If infrastructure builds nations, skills build civilizations,” he remarked.
The event featured two panel discussions:
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Skilling in Aerospace & Defence Industry: Experts stressed the need for academia-industry-government-CSR collaboration to build a pipeline of talent supporting India’s defence manufacturing and aerospace ambitions.
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Skilling in Emerging Technologies: Panelists highlighted the importance of preparing youth for renewable energy, AI, and advanced manufacturing, advocating scalable and industry-aligned training models.
Anchal Kakkar, Co-founder of Arthan, observed, “Workforce transformation cannot happen in silos. Collaboration across sectors is critical to ensuring inclusive and impactful skilling models.”
The evening concluded with networking, fostering continued dialogue among stakeholders. Phillips Education and Arthan reaffirmed their commitment to advancing skilling as a national priority to support India’s growth and global aspirations.