PNN
New Delhi [India], October 6: India’s creative and design talent has made a strong mark on the global skills stage at WorldSkills Shanghai 2026, with young Indian competitors demonstrating the depth of skill, creativity and industry readiness emerging from the country’s evolving skills ecosystem.
For the Media & Entertainment Skills Council (MESC), the achievement carries particular significance. The Council’s participation across creative and design disciplines culminated in two Silver Medals and one Medal for Excellence, with Parth Vohra securing Silver in Industrial Design Technology, Kovid Gangrade winning Silver in Digital Interactive Media Design, and Rajeeb Lochan Chand earning a Medal for Excellence in Graphic Design Technology.
The achievements place India’s creative skills talent among the high-performing competitors at the 48th WorldSkills Competition, held in Shanghai from 22 to 27 September 2026. The global competition brought together more than 1,400 competitors from over 90 countries and regions across 64 skills, while India fielded its largest-ever contingent of 70 competitors across 63 skills. India finished 10th overall, securing six Silver Medals and 20 Medals for Excellence.
Through IndiaSkills 2025, MESC participated across four creative and design skill categories — Graphic Design Technology, 3D Digital Game Art, Industrial Design Technology and Digital Interactive Media Design. Four candidates emerged from this process to represent India at WorldSkills Shanghai 2026: Parth Vohra, Kovid Gangrade, Harsh Pawar and Rajeeb Lochan Chand.
Their progression demonstrates the purpose of competitive skills development: identifying talent at the national level, exposing competitors to rigorous standards and then providing them with
Two Silver Medals. One Medal for Excellence. Three Stories of Excellence.
Parth Vohra | Industrial Design Technology | Silver Medal
For Parth Vohra, the journey from design student to WorldSkills medallist was built through successive stages of competition and increasingly demanding preparation.
A graduate in Industrial Design from UPES, Dehradun, Parth is currently an Industrial Designer at Luxor Writing Instruments, Noida. His interest in art and design began early and eventually developed into a professional pursuit of product design.
His preparation was led by Mr. Anuj Prasad, Chief Expert for Industrial Design Technology and Founder and CEO of Desmania Design. With more than three decades of experience across product design, mobility, packaging and digital prototyping, Prasad brought extensive industry and design expertise to the preparation process. He had also served as Chief Expert for Industrial Design Technology at IndiaSkills 2025 and guided India’s participation at WorldSkills Asia 2025.
The preparation ecosystem was further strengthened through industry exposure, with Mr. Raunaq Dua, Founder of CURIOSITY 3D, whose work focuses on bringing 3D printing and hands-on digital manufacturing into Indian education.
Kovid Gangrade | Digital Interactive Media Design | Silver Medal
Kovid Gangrade’s story illustrates another dimension of India’s emerging creative skills landscape — the convergence of design, technology, user experience and interactive media.
A fourth-year Bachelor of Design student at NIFT Mumbai, specialising in Product Experience, Kovid came into the IndiaSkills ecosystem through an unexpected source of inspiration: his sister.
His sister had previously won the national competition in Industrial Design Technology in 2021 but was unable to participate at the international stage following the cancellation of WorldSkills Shanghai 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kovid discovered Digital Interactive Media Design through MESC’s IndiaSkills registration and awareness content and decided to pursue the skill himself.
Under the guidance of Dr. Manisha Mohan, Professor and Dean, School of Design at Bennett University and Chief Expert for Digital Interactive Media Design. His preparation also involved a wider network of experts and mentors, including Forum Parekh Shinde, Nihar Acharya, Dr. Om Singh, Ashish Kumar, Prof. Manas Mishra, Akash Deep Sonker, Mosin Tahashildar, Ajay Kumar Srinivasan, and Vineet Raj Kapoor, who contributed at different stages of the preparation journey.
Digital Interactive Media Design is a new skill category within the WorldSkills framework, while the competencies it represents are increasingly relevant across sectors — from education and healthcare to manufacturing, logistics and other digitally enabled services. Dr. Manisha Mohan has highlighted the multidisciplinary and human-centred nature of the skill, bringing together design, technology and interactive experience.
At WorldSkills Shanghai, Kovid secured a Silver Medal, marking a significant international achievement in a skill area closely connected to the future of India's digital creative economy.
Rajeeb Lochan Chand | Graphic Design Technology | Medal for Excellence
In Graphic Design Technology, India was represented by Rajeeb Lochan Chand, who earned a Medal for Excellence at Shanghai.
Rajeeb’s journey was supported by Mr. Anthony Lopez, Chief Expert for Graphic Design Technology, whose career spans more than three decades in design, branding and strategic design consultancy. Lopez previously served as Chief Mentor Expert for India in Graphic Design Technology at WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017 and has extensive experience in identifying, training and mentoring competitors.
His preparation was complemented by industry exposure, including support from Mr. Sathish Narayanan and the team at IICT, and by Jaahnvi Mehta, a Medallion for Excellence winner at WorldSkills Lyon 2024, who worked closely with Rajeeb throughout his training, sharing first-hand international competition experience and helping him prepare for the demands of the global stage, strengthening the bridge between competition preparation and professional creative practice.
The Experts Behind the Champions
Behind every medal was an ecosystem of expertise.
MESC’s WorldSkills 2026 preparation brought together experienced professionals from design, academia, technology and industry, creating a multidisciplinary support system for India’s creative skills representatives.
The four MESC WorldSkills skill areas were led by:
- Mr. Anuj Prasad — Chief Expert, Industrial Design Technology; Founder & CEO, Desmania Design
- Dr. Manisha Mohan — Chief Expert, Digital Interactive Media Design; Dean, School of Design, Bennett University
- Mr. Anthony Lopez — Chief Expert, Graphic Design Technology; Founder & Chief Designer, LOPEZ
- Mr. Mamidipalli Bhaskar Nagendra — Chief Expert, 3D Digital Game Art
From Skill Competition to Career Pathway
The WorldSkills journey also demonstrates the changing nature of India's creative economy.
As a Sector Skill Council under the aegis of Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, MESC works to strengthen the Media & Entertainment skills ecosystem by connecting learners and professionals with industry-aligned standards, qualifications, training and opportunities. Its WorldSkills engagement extends that mandate onto an international platform, enabling India's creative talent to benchmark itself against global standards.
A Global Stage for India’s Creative Talent
WorldSkills Shanghai 2026 brought together more than 1,400 competitors across 64 skills, creating one of the world's largest platforms for demonstrating technical and vocational excellence. India’s 70-member contingent competed across 63 skills — the country's largest-ever representation at the competition.
India's overall performance — 10th position, six Silver Medals and 20 Medals for Excellence — marks a significant showing at the global skills competition.
Within that national achievement, the performance of MESC-supported competitors carries a distinct message.
Two Silver Medals. One Medal for Excellence. Four young representatives. One ecosystem of experts, mentors, institutions and industry partners working towards a common objective: enabling Indian talent to compete with confidence on the world stage.
For MESC, Shanghai 2026 is therefore a demonstration of what becomes possible when India's creative talent is given the opportunity, infrastructure, mentorship and global benchmarks to excel.
From discovering a skill to representing the nation — MESC continues to build pathways that take India’s creative talent from potential to performance, and from the national stage to the world.
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