The 45th Edition of the World Skills International Competition for the year 2019, a biennial event, was held at Kazan Expo International Exhibition Centre, Kazan, Russia from August 22- 27, 2019. It was inaugurated by the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. This global-level skills competition was held for the first time in Russia. It was a grand event in the arena of vocational skills.
i. Classification: Skills are classified into 6 sectors: Manufacturing and Engineering Technology, Information and Communication Technology, Construction and Building Technology, Transportation and Logistics, Creative Arts and Fashion, and Social and Personal Services.
ii. Organizers: WorldSkills International, WorldSkills Russia, and the Directorate for Sports and Social Projects (Russia) were the organizers of the Competition.
iii. Participants: More than 1,350 competitors participated from 63 countries across 56 skills and trades.
iv. Medal tally: China topped the list with 16 Gold, 14 Silver, 5 Bronze & 17 Medallions of Excellence, followed by Russia and Korea.
Indian team won 19 medals in Worldskills Kazan competition
i. The Indian team won 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze medals along with 15 Medallions of Excellence at the competition. It is India’s best performance since it first participated at the event in 2007. 48-member Indian team had participated in the event.
ii. India finished 13th out of 63 countries that participated at the global competition.
The names of the winners are as follows:
| Sl no | Candidate | State represented | Medal | Skill |
| 1 | Aswatha Narayana Sanagavarapu | Odisha | Gold | Water Technology |
| 2 | Pranav Udayark Nutalapati | Karnataka | Silver | Web Technologies |
| 3 | Shweta Ratanpura | Maharashtra | Bronze | Graphic Design Technology |
| 4 | Sanjoy Pramanik | West Bengal | Bronze | Jewellery |
| 5 | Sumanth Santemavathuru Chikkabettiah | Karnataka | Medallion of Excellence | Mechatronics |
| 6 | Manjunatha Desurakara | |||
| 7 | Mohammed Rabith Kunnampalli | Kerala | Medallion of Excellence | Wall and floor tiling |
| 8 | Govind Kumar Sonkar | Uttar Pradesh | Medallion of Excellence | Car Painting |
| 9 | Faruk Ahmed | Tripura | Medallion of Excellence | Bakery |
| 10 | Tushar Tukaram Phadatare | Maharashtra | Medallion of Excellence | Automobile Technology |
| 11 | Shubham Singh | Punjab | Medallion of Excellence | Cyber Security |
| 12 | Swapnil | Delhi | ||
| 13 | Nidhin Prem | Kerala | Medallion of Excellence | 3D Digital Art Game |
| 14 | Thasleem Mohideen | Tamil Nadu | Medallion of Excellence | Health and Social Care |
| 15 | Suraj | Uttarakhand | Medallion of Excellence | Autobody Repair |
| 16 | Omkar Shivaling Gurav | Maharashtra | Medallion of Excellence | Mobile Robotics |
| 17 | Rohan Ravindra Hanagi | |||
| 18 | Koteshwar Reddy Golipally | Telangana | Medallion of Excellence | Welding |
| 19 | Md Ramjan Momin | West Bengal | Medallion of Excellence | Bricklaying |
| 20 | Saurabh Baghel | Uttar Pradesh | Medallion of Excellence | Patisserie and Confectionary |
| 21 | Ankit Anand | Bihar | Medallion of Excellence | Visual Merchandising |
| 22 | Gursheesh Singh Chawla | Chandigarh | Medallion of Excellence | IT Software Solutions for Business |
i. S Aswatha Narayana who won a Gold medal in Water Technology was also awarded as ‘Best of Nation’ amongst the Indian competitors. He was trained by Rajat Kumar Samantaray, Professor, CV Raman Institute, Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
ii. Shweta Ratanpura who won the Bronze medal in Graphic Designing earned the distinction of being the only female candidate to win a medal for India at WorldSkills Kazan 2019. She was trained by Narayanan Sathish, Founder, Design Media, Pune.
iii. Pranav Nutalapati who won Silver in Web Technologies was trained by Ruchi Pareek, Technical Director, Smalt & Beryl. Sanjoy Pramanik who won Bronze in Jewellery was trained by Anupam Karmakar, Creative Head, Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers.
Ministers’ Summit 2019
Ministers’ Summit 2019 was organised along the sidelines of Worldskills Kazan competition at Kazan, Russia. Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Hon’ble Minister for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) was the representative from India.
i. Participants at the Ministers’ Summit included Ms. Tatyana Golikova, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation; Ms. Olga Vasilyeva, Minister of Education of the Russian Federation; Mr. Jos de Goey, Vice President for Strategic Affairs and Chair of the Strategic Development Committee at WorldSkills International; Mr. Tang Tao, Vice Minister of Human Resources and Social Security, People’s Republic of China, among others.
ii. Dr Pandey inaugurated Skill India Pavilion at WorldSkills, Kazan in Russia, showcasing the multicultural experiences of India and unity in diversity.
Upcoming Competition Venue
i. The 46th WorldSkills Competition will be held in September 2021 in Shanghai, China.
ii. Lyon, France will host the 47th WorldSkills Competition in 2023.
About WorldSkills India
WorldSkills India is an initiative of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) under the aegis of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), which has been leading India’s participation at WorldSkills International competitions since 2011. This was done to create an aspiration around the pursuit of skills training in India and benchmark the skillsets of our youth against their counterparts in other parts of the world.
About WorldSkills Competitions
WorldSkills hosts the world skills competition which attracts more than 1,300 Competitors from more than 60 countries. At this event, young people from all corners of the globe gather together for the chance to win a prestigious medal in their chosen skill. There are competitions in 56 skills across a wide range of industries — from joinery to floristry; hairdressing to electronics; and autobody repair to bakery. The Competitors represent the best of their peers and are selected from skills competitions that are held in WorldSkills Member countries and regions.