LONDON (TIP):  Indian origin steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta has been appointed by Britain’s Prince Charles as an official ambassador for the Industrial Cadets program designed to nurture manufacturing skills.

Mr. Gupta was appointed to the flagship program to give children and young people direct structured experience of the industry while still at school or college.

The Industrial Cadets annual awards ceremony was held on March February 28^th in London.

“Gupta is doing so much to apply real imagination, innovative thinking and sustainable rejuvenation to our nation’s heavy industries and I’m thrilled that he, through his GFG Alliance, has so enthusiastically become involved with Industrial Cadets as well,” said the 68-year-old Prince of Wales.

As the Executive Chairman of UK-based GFG Alliance, Mr. Gupta has been on an acquisition spree in the steel industry over the past few months which has helped secure hundreds of jobs.

“Coming from a family of industrialists, I had the opportunity while growing up to spend time in steel works and engineering plants. That left a lasting impression on me and really inspired me to pursue an active career in industry. I see Industrial Cadets fulfilling the same function and am very excited about the impact it is facing,” Mr. Gupta said.

His GFG Foundation is actively involved in funding and promoting the Industrial Cadets program, through a partnership with the Engineering Development Trust.

GFG Alliance companies, including Liberty House and SIMEC, currently support 1,300 cadets from 26 schools across Britain to participate in the scheme, with a target of 5,000 students by next year.

Around 26 GFG executives located at 13 industrial sites in the UK are regularly engaged in organizing work placements at their respective plants, helping the youngsters to maximize the benefit they get from time spent in the group’s steelmaking, engineering, power generation and manufacturing facilities.

Mr. Gupta said that the task of ensuring the next generation has the motivation and skills to enable the UK to remain competitive and successful on the world stage in manufacturing as one of the most important tasks facing modern society.

As part of his role as ambassador, the 46-year-old businessman has also been tasked with establishing Industrial Cadets in Australia, where the GFG Alliance already employs 6,000 people in its integrated mining, steel and energy businesses.