Maruti Suzuki Expands EdTech Footprint: 5 New Gujarat ITI Labs, 23 Total AMLs

For India's vocational education technology sector, Maruti Suzuki's latest initiative signals a shift from theory-heavy curricula to experiential learning. By setting up five new Advanced Manufacturing Labs in Gujarat, the automaker is creating a template for public-private partnerships that integrate industry-grade equipment into ITI classrooms, directly addressing the employability gap.

Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), the country's largest carmaker, announced on June 22, 2026 that it will establish five Advanced Manufacturing Labs (AMLs) at Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) across Gujarat. The initiative, formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding with the state's Directorate of Employment and Training (DET), targets ITIs in Palanpur, Bhavnagar, Surendranagar, Godhra, and Dahod. This move is a strategic component of Maruti Suzuki's expanding manufacturing footprint in Gujarat, which demands a pipeline of skilled, industry-ready workers. By embedding state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment directly into ITI campuses, the company aims to shift vocational training from theory-heavy curricula to experiential, hands-on learning that mirrors real factory floors.

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Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), the country's largest carmaker, announced on June 22, 2026 that it will establish five Advanced Manufacturing Labs (AMLs) at Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) across Gujarat.

This expansion is not an isolated effort but part of a broader national skilling infrastructure. Currently, MSIL supports 31 ITIs across India in manufacturing-related trades. The five new labs will increase the company’s total AML count from 18 to 23, spread across seven states and union territories including Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, and Chandigarh. The scale reflects an accelerating corporate commitment to bridge India’s persistent skilled labor shortage in advanced manufacturing. According to industry estimates, the automotive sector alone faces a deficit of over 1.5 million skilled workers, a gap that conventional ITI curricula often fail to close due to outdated machinery and limited industry exposure.

The Gujarat AMLs are tailored to equip students with proficiency in modern shop-floor technologies such as CNC machining, robotics, and automation. Rahul Bharti, MSIL’s Senior Executive Officer for Corporate Affairs, emphasized during the MoU signing that each expansion of Maruti’s manufacturing operations creates a new industrial ecosystem that demands a ‘skilled and future-ready workforce.’ He noted that the labs ‘will play a pivotal role in meeting this latent need and ensuring that talent is ready to meet industry demands.’ Stuti Charan, IAS, Director of DET Gujarat, added that the initiative directly bridges ‘the gap between classroom learning and industry requirements,’ a sentiment that resonates with ongoing policy discourse around the National Education Policy’s focus on vocational education.