Mehreen Amin is studying in the fourth semester at the Government Women’s Degree College in Zakura, Srinagar. Ms Amin recently completed an intensive solar technical program through a Kashmir-based training institute registered with the Skill Council for Green Jobs (SCGJ). When the institute was initially organizing students in her community, she felt an instinctive desire to enroll.
Ms. Amin recalls, “Back then I wasn’t thinking about career benefits or the future of solar energy; my only interest was a practical desire to learn how to install the panels.” “But now, I realize that we will all need these skills in the future. I want to know how to handle and operate this equipment.”
Ms. Amin’s training is part of the training of thousands of students and professionals to become “Suryamitra” or certified solar photovoltaic (PV) technician. It is a three-month program of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy run by the National Institute of Solar Energy to promote employment generation in India’s solar industry.
In 2023, some Suryamitras were also considered potential candidates to work in the German solar industry.
Within a month of former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to India in February 2023, the Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft (BSW), or the German Solar Industry Association, and the SCGJ signed an MoU to promote migration of skilled workers in the solar sector between India and Germany.
BSW is a trade body representing more than 1,000 companies in the solar energy and battery storage sector in Germany. SCGJ is a non-profit, autonomous, industry-led organization associated with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
As per the MoU, it was promised to place at least 20 Indian Suryamitra electricians in the solar sector of Germany. Another objective was to promote the exchange of skilled workers to address and accelerate the migration of skilled workers in solar energy between the two countries. According to conservative estimates, Germany is facing a shortage of more than 100,000 workers in the solar sector.
Till three years after the signing of that MoU, not a single Indian Suryamitra has gone to Germany.
This is not the first time that an official Indo-German agreement promising transfer of skilled labor has failed to materialize. Two years ago, the state of Maharashtra and the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg had signed an agreement on the transfer of skilled labour, promising to send 10,000 skilled workers in 34 trades from the Indian state to Germany. By December 2025, reports confirmed that not a single professional had migrated under the agreement.
big promises
The BSW-Solar and SCGJ agreement repeats the pattern where not a single skilled professional moved from India to Germany. Germany increased the professional visa cap for Indian professionals from 20,000 to 90,000 during Chancellor Scholz’s visit to India in 2023.
According to a 2025 study by the German Economic Institute (IW), about 32,800 Indian professionals work in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields, a nine-fold increase since 2012.
One-third of full-time Indian workers aged 25 to 44 are employed in STEM fields. But the picture is not so good for non-STEM fields, especially those where vocational training is essential – such as the solar industry.
“Our understanding is that the primary objective of this initiative was to support domestic workforce training and skill development within India, to meet the needs of its rapidly growing local market, rather than to facilitate international placements,” said David Wedepohl, managing director of international affairs at BSW Solar and a signatory to the MoU.
According to BSW Solar, they were not actively involved in the training programme.
SCGJ signatory, Arpit Sharma, said Suryamitras were already trained under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy scheme, and the idea of the partnership was to skill them in German technical standards and provide German-language courses.
“Unfortunately, no candidates were trained during the tenure and no funds were provided to SCGJ for any work,” Mr Sharma said.
According to Mr. Wedepohl, across the entire solar value chain, there is particular demand for skilled workers in the construction of power systems such as DC assembly, AC installation, PV planning and construction management for the PV sector.
According to a 2024 study by the Bertelsmann Foundation, only 18% of companies were actively recruiting workers from abroad, although 70% of companies were facing labor shortages.
Reasons – Language and bureaucratic barriers such as recognition of professional qualifications. In professional areas, German companies are strict about practical knowledge on the job.
According to Mr. Wedepohl, “The objective was to identify already trained Suryamitras, who were supported by the National Institute of Solar Energy, and, if necessary, upgrade them to German standards.”
Jana Fingerhut, senior project manager (sustainable social market economy) at the Bertelsmann Foundation, says that German companies are strict about the recognition of certain professions in addition to language proficiency.
Ms Fingerhut said, “The accreditation process may be delayed. The government is also cutting language and integration courses, making it even more difficult for many qualified people to enter the German job market. We hope there will be changes in the future.”
Mr Sharma said a list of 30 Suryamitras was shared with BSW Solar. “Candidates could not participate in the upskilling program due to changes in German migration laws,” Mr Sharma said.
Talking to many other students like Ms. Amin also revealed that many trainees are not enrolling with the aim of making a career in the solar sector. Some trainees said they enrolled for a stipend linked to the program, while others did so while engaged in a different business.
It emerged that institutions are assigned enrollment targets, but provide little guidance on how to identify or recruit candidates genuinely interested in green sector jobs. As a result, the emphasis often shifts from attracting motivated trainees to simply filling seats.
structural barriers
One thing both sides agree on is the change in migration framework on the German side, which has made the matter more complicated.
“When the partnership was originally formed, the labor shortage and market conditions in Germany were different from today. The German market grew by almost 100% between 2022 and 2023. The collaboration provided a valuable opportunity to better understand the Indian solar sector and explore whether labor mobility between the two countries might be possible in the future,” Mr Wedepohl said.
The number of people employed in Germany’s renewable energy sector is set to reach a record high of 436,000 in 2025, an increase of less than 4% compared to 2023, according to a 2026 report by the Bertelsmann Foundation. The report says changes to the current federal government’s energy policy could put thousands of jobs in the sector at risk.
“The previous government emphasized the expansion of renewable energy and implemented it through new, ambitious expansion targets and faster approval processes for renewable energy installations. Under the current federal government, a political shift is emerging that may slow the expansion of renewable energy. However, this is not 100% certain yet, as four energy-sector laws are currently being developed. Early draft laws, however, suggest that they will lead to less investment in renewable energy. and as a result, there could be a loss of jobs,” Ms. Fingerhut said.
In March 2026, Germany’s Economy Minister, Katharina Reich, ended state subsidies for rooftop solar installations up to 25 kW, citing falling photovoltaic prices.
“This reduction will mean that fewer people will have an incentive to install solar panels, which could have a negative impact on investment and, in turn, employment in the solar industry,” Ms Fingerhut said.
Currently, the BSW and SCGJ partnership is focused on ongoing discussions around skills development for manufacturing and industrial workers in the solar value chain.
“Continued collaboration between governments, industry stakeholders and training institutions is vital to align qualifications with real labor market needs,” Mr Wedepohl said.
(This article is part of the India-Germany climate and energy journalism program organized by Clean Energy Wire, supported by the Heinrich Böll Stiftung)
