Bridging the talent gap: Telangana’s skills model for life sciences

P. Akhila, a 23-year-old from a farming family in rural Telangana, became the first in her family to pursue higher education, earning a master’s degree in chemistry. With strong academic foundations, she was eager to explore opportunities beyond the classroom.

Her aspirations took flight through Telangana’s Life Sciences Skilling Programme, launched under the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR Telangana).

The programme provided her with hands-on training and real-world industry exposure, culminating in an internship at a leading global pharmaceutical company. This experience transformed her potential into a promising career path.

Akhila’s story is a testament to what’s possible when ambition meets opportunity.

For many students in India, academic qualifications alone no longer suffice in a fast-evolving job market, particularly in fields such as healthcare and life sciences, where technology and industry demands are rapidly shifting.

This growing disconnect between classroom learning and practical skills disproportionately affects youth from underserved backgrounds, highlighting the urgent need for education that combines strong academics with hands-on experience, mentorship and real-world exposure.

Telangana’s forward-looking life sciences skilling model helps bridge this gap.

Every year, thousands of bright students graduate in pharmacy, chemistry, biology, engineering and allied disciplines across Telangana. With the life sciences industry continuously evolving, the need for a specialized and highly trained talent pool is only increasing.

The academic focus and skills of these bright students should be further enhanced through focused, industry-specific training to ensure that these students hit the ground running in any new employment.

In the past, life sciences industry participants would put these students through tailored readiness programmes, including hands-on lab training, during the initial few months of employment. Although useful, it often took a few months for these students to become fully productive employees.

C4IR Telangana collaborated with industry and academic institutions to develop a focused skilling programme that empowered students with relevant, applied, and industry-aligned skills, helping to set them apart in a competitive global market.

The curriculum for this programme was designed in partnership with the industry, and the programme was delivered in the last semester of the academic year to ensure that students were industry trained upon graduation.

Students who completed the course and passed the necessary evaluations also received either an internship or a full-time offer with participating industry partners.

“Telangana’s youth have immense potential. With targeted, market-aligned training and a curriculum shaped in close collaboration with industry to reflect real-world needs, they became globally competitive professionals. High-demand skill areas were prioritized and students received focused soft skills training.

"As a government committed to generating employment opportunities for our citizens, our goal was clear; students were to be industry-ready the day they completed their courses,” said Sri D. Sridhar Babu, Minister for Information Technology, Electronics & Communications, Industries & Commerce.

Telangana’s skilling programmes were designed in partnership with premier academic institutions, such as ICT Mumbai and NIPER Hyderabad, as well as leading life sciences companies, ensuring that students learn specialized courses, technologies and best practices.

The programme emphasizes practical training through lab sessions, industry site visits and real-world projects, all designed to build confidence and experience in students.

The skilling programmes have been made cost-effective and widely accessible so that students from diverse backgrounds can participate and benefit from them as well.

Alongside technical expertise, students receive training in communication, teamwork and problem-solving skills, so they also develop the essential soft skills necessary to thrive in today’s fast-evolving workplaces.

The pilot programme focused on synthetic organic chemistry and its outreach included rollout across more than 40 colleges, engaging over 2,000 students. It involved the rigorous selection of 140 participants based on industry-validated assessments and included 100 hours or more of training, including lab work at Hyderabad Central University.

The programme’s strong industry alignment is reflected in the overwhelming number of participants reaching the final interview stage for job placements – 86%. A major strength is the close collaboration with leading companies throughout the programme’s design and execution.

Sai Life Sciences and NewAtom Labs extended 39 full-time offers, while Aragen, Syngene, Aurigene and Thermo Fisher Scientific provided 66 internship opportunities that offered valuable real-world experience.

As a result, 72% of unique participants secured positions, demonstrating the programme’s success in turning potential into meaningful career pathways.

As well as tangible job outcomes, the initiative’s participation proved to have a transformational reach, including 83% being women and 70% belonging to lower-middle-income families earning under INR 25,000 (around $300) per month.

These figures show that when systems are designed with equity, excellence and employability in mind, they unlock generational progress as well as jobs.

With strong outcomes and enthusiastic industry participation, Telangana is now expanding this initiative. The roadmap includes:

We have set an ambitious vision to train 50,000 students over the next five years across the continuum of life sciences. This is not just a state programme; it is a replicable, scalable model for workforce transformation.

As the pace of industrial change outstrips curriculum cycles, Telangana’s skilling initiative demonstrates how proactive governance can future-proof its workforce. The programme is built on three pillars:

Together, these pillars are shaping a future where every student can contribute meaningfully to India’s innovation economy, regardless of their background.