PNB Housing Finance (PNBHFL) has formally tied up with the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) CSR Foundation to train 13,000 construction workers on- site and off-site, across the country. The two entities have partnered with eight skill institutes, to offer the programme in select cities across 15 states — Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Not only will the programme reinforce the knowledge that the workers already possess but will also ensure that they are included in the mainstream workforce and receive formal, continuous employment and resulting benefits. It will upgrade the skills of construction workers so that they meet global benchmarks, which in turn, will increase the productivity of the workforce.
The two entities have together managed to train approx. 27,500 candidates already in various trades, including masonry, bar bending, shuttering, electrical, painting, welding, fabrication, and plumbing. The programme is supervised by the Construction Skill Development Council of India, which helps evaluate the implementation, progress and result of the programme, which is aligned with the Skill India Mission’s objective to make the country the skill capital of the world.
PNB Housing Finance is promoted by the Punjab National Bank and is a registered housing finance company with the National Housing Bank (NHB). It offers its retail customers housing and non-housing loans, and is also into construction finance loans to real-estate developers for residential housing.