The country’s largest passenger car-maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) and cab aggregator Uber India will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Thursday to train 30,000 drivers in the next three years.

The National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC) will also be a part of this initiative.

Senior officials from the companies told BusinessLine that the initiative is aimed at providing aspiring commercial drivers with micro-entrepreneurship opportunities and equipping them with necessary skills to operate on the Uber platform.

Called UberShaan, the initiative, as per Uber, aims to create one-million livelihood opportunities as micro-entrepreneurs by 2018.

Maruti Suzuki has been playing a key role in providing driving skills and has tied up with many State governments, too.

Pilot phase The companies said this initiative would be a win-win for both, as Uber would provide qualified leads of potential driver-partners to Maruti Suzuki for facilitating them with commercial driver training.

The pilot phase will be rolled out in Hyderabad, Chennai and Delhi-NCR, and thereafter, be introduced in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Pune.

As part of the tie-up, Uber and Maruti Suzuki will conduct a four-month pilot and organise driver training and on-boarding programmes, which is required to join the Uber platform.

On completion of training and receipt of a commercial licence, Uber will support the journey of successful candidates by offering vehicle financing and leasing solutions.

Based on learnings from the pilot, the partnership will be expanded to other Indian cities. “Through this partnership we will train individuals in safe driving and provide micro-entrepreneurship opportunities to them. The MoU will be in line with our aim to promote safe and responsible driving in India, while facilitating meaningful livelihood for youth,” RS Kalsi, Executive Director, Marketing & Sales, MSIL, told BusinessLine .

Training process Under the specialised training module developed by Maruti Suzuki, the drivers will undergo pre-assessment tests, theoretical training, practical training and post-training assessments for a period of 30 days, he said.

While pre-assessment will be done by Uber, the entire training process followed by post-training assessment with grades attributed to the drivers will be MSIL’s responsibility. The theoretical segment will familiarise the learner on basic requirements, such as vehicle controls and mechanisms, road signage, rules and markings, driving in difficult conditions, maintenance and fuel efficiency tips, law and driving, attitudinal change toward road safety and more.

The practical covers intensive training in driving pre-checks, risk perception, driving technique, safety driving, rules of the road and motoring skills.

Uber would also be at an advantage because of the fact that Maruti Suzuki has been imparting driver training since 2000.

The company has six Institutes of Driving and Traffic Research (IDTRs) and over 370 Maruti Driving Schools (MDS).

“Our partnership with NSDC and Maruti Suzuki will be instrumental in realising our goal by 2018,” said Amit Jain, President, Uber India.

Through its partnership with NSDC, Uber will be supporting driver training at all the 158 NSDC training centres nationwide that promote skill building in the automobile sector.

Additionally, Uber Partner Support Centres will provide soft skills training to existing and new driver partners in collaboration with NSDC.

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