The Infrastructure Equipment Skill Council (IESC), promoted by the Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association (ICEMA), subsidised by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has appointed Anand Sundaresan, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Schwing Stetter India as Chairman of the IESC. Prior to taking over the IESC, Sundaresan was the immediate past President of ICEMA. Sundaresan will be taking over Vikram Sharma, CEO, Kobelco, as Chairman of the IESC. Aravind Garg, Executive Vice President & Head-Construction & Mining Machinery Business, Larsen & Toubro, has been appointed as the Vice-Chairman of IESC. The term of office will be two years. As part of this new role, Sundaresan will be responsible in introducing progressive initiatives that will benefit the skilling industry in the country. Sundaresan, on being appointed as Chairman of IESC, says, “In India, we have always had a deficit in manpower especially in the infrastructure and construction industry. As the government has been focussing on introducing and implementing policy reforms that will create huge employment opportunities, we at IESC hope to take a region-wise approach and ensure that the benefits of skilling, reach all parts of the country. We seek the support of other equipment manufacturers for providing trainers and the user industry in proactively deputing their employees for skill training. Moreover, if the government makes it mandatory to employee only skill-certified operators in the industry, it will help to increase performance standards and instill safety practices while handling construction equipment.” Sundaresan comes with over three decades of experience in various Indian and multi-national companies. He joined Schwing Stetter India in 1999 as Executive Director and became Managing Director in January 2002 and Vice-Chairman & Managing director in 2013. As a transformational leader, he steered the business of Schwing Stetter India forward by introducing best-of-breed products for the Indian construction industry. Previously, Sundaresan was also the President of Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association (ICEMA) and the President of the Employers Federation of South India (EFSI).