India ranked 10th at the WorldSkills Shanghai 2026 held from September 22-27— improving from its 13th-place finish at WorldSkills Lyon 2024— with the country winning six silver medals and 20 medals of excellence.
Union minister of state (independent charge) for skill development and entrepreneurship Jayant Chaudhary said, “Team India’s remarkable performance at WorldSkills Shanghai 2026, with six silver medals and 20 medals for excellence, marks a significant leap in our global skills journey. Surpassing our previous performance, our young competitors have demonstrated the growing strength and competitiveness of India’s skilled talent.”
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The six-day competition in Shanghai brought together more than 1,400 young competitors from around 70 countries and regions. WorldSkills is a global skills competition held every two years, where young professionals from different countries compete in vocational and technical skills. It promotes global skill standards, knowledge sharing and skilled careers.
India’s participation was coordinated by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) under the aegis of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE).
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India sent its largest-ever contingent of 70 competitors across 63 skills, with the country debuting in 11 new and emerging skill categories, including dental prosthetics, digital interactive media design, intelligent security technology, unmanned aerial systems among others. The MSDE said this reflected a greater emphasis on future-oriented occupations, new technologies and industry-driven competencies.
The six silver medals were won by Smriti Nambiar in bakery, Mohammed Salam in dental prosthetics, Kovid Ajay Gangrade in digital interactive media design, Parth Vohra in industrial design technology, Mehrunissa Begum in logistics and freight forwarding, and Saniya Joshi in retail sales. Smriti Nambiar was also recognised as India’s “Best of Nation”.
“India’s achievement reflects the dedication of its young competitors, supported by months of rigorous preparation, specialised training, mentorship and international benchmarking,” the ministry said in a press release.
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Official delegate of WorldSkills India Manisha Sensarma said the competition provided the experts exposure to global occupational standards and best practices which would help improve India’s skilling ecosystem.
“Our focus now is to translate these learnings into stronger training methodologies, improved assessment standards and deeper industry engagement, so that the benefits of this experience extend well beyond the competition to India’s larger skilling ecosystem,” she said.
Women competitors also represented India across a range of technical, creative and service-oriented categories, reflecting wider women participation in vocational education and skill development.
“Beyond the medals, what makes us proud is the confidence, determination and excellence with which our youth represented India on the world stage. Their success reinforces our commitment to building a future-ready skilling ecosystem and giving every young Indian the opportunity to compete with the best in the world,” said Chaudhary.
