CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAM UNDER RISE INITIATIVE OF WRI INDIA – EXTERNAL TRAINER – TERMS OF REFERENCE

About the Organization WRI India, an independent charity legally registered as the India Resources Trust, provides objective information and practical proposals to foster environmentally sound and socially equitable development. WRI India’s mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations. Through research, analysis, and recommendations, WRI India puts ideas into action to build transformative solutions to protect the earth, promote livelihoods, and enhance human well-being. We are inspired by and associated with the World Resources Institute, a global research organization. Currently over 400 researchers are working with WRI India in our offices at Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. About the Project: Background and objectives - MSMEs and their workers are the backbone of our economy, and while they are known to be resourceful and nimble to work within their resource constraints, they are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Climate change poses risks to MSMEs, including damage to physical assets, infrastructure services, increased financial risks, regulatory uncertainties, market fluctuations and supply chain disruptions. This is potentially devastating to economies and livelihoods. Furthermore, Indian MSMEs find it difficult to access finance and build climate resilience. Their response to the climate crisis is also plagued by limited awareness, regulatory challenges, and complex policy norms. Given this context, WRI India is undertaking capacity building of Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs) to support them in building climate resilience, with the objective to support MSMEs and their workers with the right capacity to respond to threats posed by the climate change. We aim to support Indian MSMEs in Automobile industry in Chennai and Coimbatore city of Tamil Nadu undertaking work to strengthen their resilience and taking necessary steps to future proof their business models within a changing climate. In building the sector's resilience, we intend to ensure that marginalized MSMEs and the people employed are included in the discussions and are engaged in shaping the outcomes. We also want to focus on bringing about gender parity in the selected sectors. Program participants, profile and status (as on date) This focussed capacity building trainings will comprise of topics under the pillar of decarbonization, which includes energy conservation and audit, lean tools application etc .The training will support MSME workers to practically understand how to decarbonize unit operations, undertake energy efficiency and waste management measures in their unit through lean tools applications. Learning Design The program offers a blended learning design starting with classroom type trainings, practical on site workshops , and individual unit level trainings. Scope of work WRI India plans to utilise services of external training providers for undertaking capacity building program focussed on the topics of decarbonization and productivity improvement with experience of training MSME and its workers. We are seeking proposals from established training service providers/ professionals/ institutions for the same. Approach The training program will involve:

1. Training program for MSME owners , mid level managers and shop floor workers.
   1. Unit level trainings to support MSME in understanding implementation of productivity improvement tools.Deliverables The training partner, will be responsible for undertaking the following field activities with support from the WRI India team:
      • Co-creating a training plan along with the WRI India team. The training plan can be subject to modification to account for any changes in the conditions on the ground with the agreement of both the training Partner team and the WRI India team.
        • The training partner will conduct training programs and WRI Team will identify and provide logistic support for the training of MSME units for the selected cluster.
          • Training partner will assign lead trainers from conducting training programs and will discuss regular updates on the trainings and the progress of the work with the assigned member from the WRI India team.
            • Training partner will handle training presentations (PPT/on-site discussion) – and will share all training material including photos and videos taken during training. All training material shared will be property of WRI India.
              • In consultation with WRI India team, Training partner will conduct one-on-one virtual advisory sessions (30 minutes to 1 hour each) with 10 MSMEs — 5 each in Chennai and Coimbatore — with two sessions per MSME over the course of the engagement. The engagement can be increased to 50 MSME units based on mutually agreement after the conduct of this pilot intervention. Intervention Type
                1. Classroom training
                   1. Training at MSME venue. Target Audience Automotive component manufacturing MSME units – MSME owners and workers. Location Coimbatore and Chennai Engagement Duration 8 Months period from the date of contract. Beneficiaries to be trained WRI team will provide the list of MSME workers to be trained. Number of workers to be trained per batch will be mutually decided.Duration: We aim to complete the training program within 8 months of selecting a suitable agency/ professional. Proposed Training schedule will be as under:Sno Venue Training Topic and Expected duration Expected Participants 1 Three MSME Units Resource Efficiency (Lean) Unit-level Trainings: 3 Units x 2 Half Day Sessions each List to be provided by WRI India team.2 To be shared by WRI team Resource Efficiency (Lean) Worker Training: Half Day Session 3 To be shared by WRI team Energy Efficiency Worker Training: Full Day Session 4 Three MSME Units Energy Efficiency Unit-level Trainings: 3 Units x 1 Half Day Sessions each 5 To be shared by WRI team Resource Efficiency (Lean) mid level managers TOT Training: 2.5 Days 6 To be shared by WRI team Energy Efficiency Supervisor TOT Training (Training using demonstration approach - Energy efficiency lab expected) : 2.5 Days Selection Criteria We are looking forward to receiving technical and financial proposal to undertake the aforesaid capacity building activities. The technical proposals will be assessed on the following criteria:
                      • The technical expertise of the trainer/organization on the subject matter.
                      • Training Facilities (e.g laboratory, instruments etc) available with the agency
                      • Prior training experience with MSMEs and with other reputed clientele of the agency.
                        Location: Chennai and Coimbatore, Tamilnadu.
                        Request for Proposal: The financial proposal should include a breakup summary of all cost heads proposed including expenses, service fee, travel (if any), etc. Table 1: Milestones, Timelines and Payment Schedule S. No.MilestoneTentative TimelineTasks and DeliverablesPayment Schedule 1.Award of ContractT (Date of signing of contract)
                        • Signing the contract After completion of each training session and receipt of hard copy of invoice along with all necessary original receipts and approval by program manager. Training program content and date finalisation & start of project execution. T+1month
                          • Meetings between WRI India team and training team for the co-creation of a training work plan for the MSMEs.
                            • Documentation of the work plan 2. Completion of all training programs and submission of invoicesT+ 8 months.
                              • Submission of brief training program report along with attendance sheets , and event photographs. Start date: Interested parties are requested to submit their proposals by 27 June 2025 at [email protected] and [email protected]For any queries, contact: Mr. Arunachalam Venkatraman, Program Manager[email protected] Chennai