The Indian consul general based in Edinburgh wants to build new training links between India and Scotland.
The comment from Anil Kumar Anand came as he visited the Underwater Centre, at Fort William.
Mr Anand was given a tour of the site, one of world’s leading providers of commercial diving and remotely operated vehicle training courses. It already has business links with companies in India and is focusing on strengthening these relationships and establishing new contracts.
Last year, centre staff delivered specialist courses in Mumbai for Dolphin Offshore Marine, a provider of underwater services to the Indian oil and gas sector.
Steve Ham, general manager of the centre, believed Mr Anand’s visit would help to build further on links with Indian companies, an important market for the facility.
Mr Ham said: “The oil and gas market in India plays a vital role in the country’s economy. Continuing exploration naturally leads to an increased pressure for skilled subsea personnel, specialising in areas such as commercial diving and ROVs.
“We have already done a range of training for Indian companies and this has helped to cement our reputation with the country’s oil and gas sector. Mr Anand’s visit was a great opportunity to showcase our centre, its facilities, industry-standard equipment and our expert staff.”
Mr Anand said: “I am very keen to build new training links between India and Scotland and my visit to the Underwater Centre has further cemented my beliefs that there are huge opportunities for Indian students to come to Scotland and train as commercial divers and ROV technicians for the subsea industry.”
The turnover from training Indian companies at the centre was around £200,000 for the past financial year and the annual figure is projected to increase to £600,000.