NIIT launches two new training centers in New Delhi and Gurgaon

NIIT has
launched two new training destina­tions for IT career aspirants in its 25th
year. The state-of-the-art NIIT centers, inaugurated by cricketing legend Kapil
Dev at Con­naught Place in New Delhi and Gurgaon will help meet the growing
manpower needs of the IT industry.

Inaugurating the centers, the
World Champion not only performed the tradi­tional ribbon cutting and lamp
lighting ceremonies, he also highlighted the impor­tance of knowing computers
and the emerging career opportunities in the ICT industry.

Addressing Gen-Next at the
launch of the two centers Dev said, “Over 20 years ago, when I was at the peak
of my professional performance, I believed India's young peo­ple needed to
make sports their first job destination. The fast pace and immense growth
opportunities offe­red by the IT industry, how­ever, now I am convinced that
when it comes to a career, IT is the place to be in!”

Kapil Dev addressing the audience at the launch of the new center.

Reiterating the high poten­tial
of the IT sector and its growing relevance to young India, G Raghavan,
President, NIIT's Individual Learning Business added, “With the Indian IT
industry needing over a million IT professionals by 2008, the youth of India can
look forward to extre­mely promising IT careers. Every field of work, in fact,
will require IT familiarity in the years ahead.”

According to a recent NASSCOM
report, the demand for Information Communi­cation Technology (ICT) knowledge
workers is going to outstrip supply, creating a major gap in the coming years.
An estimated 1.1 million IT workers will be required by 2008, as com­pared to
the current supply of 8.85 lakh professionals. The numbers are expected to jump
substantially and grow into a vast need by 2012. By 2012, analysts say, India
will have a requirement of around five million new IT/ITES jobs.

NIIT is committed to bridging
this gap by providing relevant, industry-ready professionals and enabling India
to sustain its IT manpower edge in the global markets. With the launch of two
new centers, NIIT's network of education centers in the capital and NCR region
will go up to 30.

Spread over an area of 4,000 sq ft in Connaught Place and
5,000 sq ft in the heart of North India's IT city -- Gurgaon, the two new NIIT
centers, will together train over 3,500 learners, an­nually. Both the centers
will offer NIIT's complete port­folio of education offerings for IT career
aspirants, end users and software pro­fessionals. The region's youth will now
have a com­prehensive range of IT career programs to choose from, including
NIIT's flagship GNIIT pro­gram, its special IT program for Engi­neers,
training on advanced technologies-CATS and short term SWIFT pro­grams. The
centers will also offer Thomson Pro­metric Testing facilities for obtai­ning
certification in advan­ced technologies.

DQW News Bureau New Delhi,
Jan 9