WorldSkills Shanghai 2026: 14 Women from Team India to Showcase Talent Across Technical and Vocational Fields
Fourteen young Indian women are representing India in various skills ranging from chemical laboratory technology to hospitality at the 48th WorldSkills competition held in Shanghai.
The 48th WorldSkills competition, taking place in Shanghai from September 22 to 27, 2026, is witnessing an increasing participation of Indian women. Out of the 70-member Team India delegation participating in 63 different skills, 14 are young women, making up more than one-fifth of the team.
These female competitors are representing India across a diverse range of technical, specialized, creative, and service-oriented skills. These fields include chemical laboratory technology, logistics and freight forwarding, visual merchandising, fashion technology, retail sales, health and social care, hotel reception, restaurant service, cooking, painting and decorating, hairdressing, beauty therapy, bakery, and pastry and confectionery.
Ms. Manisha Sen Sharma, Official Delegate of WorldSkills India and Senior Economic Adviser to the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, stated that the participation of these young women reflects an encouraging shift in India's skilling landscape. She emphasized that skill has no gender and noted that the Ministry's effort is to ensure that young women receive proper opportunities, training, and confidence to choose careers based on their abilities.
The list of women participating in the competition is as follows: Sampada Desai in chemical laboratory technology, Mehrunnisa Begum in logistics and freight forwarding, Anuja Ajay Ware in visual merchandising, Vidhi Niravkumar Suthar in fashion technology, Saniya Joshi in retail sales, Vishnupriya Sunil in health and social care, Rashmeet Kaur Hanspal in hotel reception, Jhansirani Raut in restaurant service, Tanushree Mapesh in cooking, Muskan in painting and decorating, Jui Santosh Sapke in hairdressing, T. Sabir Sutar in beauty therapy, Smriti Nambiar in bakery, and Krishnanjali Sahu in pastry and confectionery.
The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship is focusing on increasing women's participation in vocational education, apprenticeships, and industry-linked training to open new paths for sustainable livelihoods. These female participants of Team India have undergone intensive training to refine their technical capabilities in accordance with global standards.
