Mumbai, Apr 4 (IANS): Beset with a huge ageing population, Germany is currently facing an annual shortage of a whopping 400,000 skilled workers and looks at India to bridge the country's critical needs, a diplomat said on Tuesday.

Germany's Consul-General in Mumbai, Achim Fabig said that his country requires skilled workers like nurses, electricians, solar utility technicians, and even butchers for the jobs available there.

His remarks came during a meeting with Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais late on Monday, according to an official spokesperson.

Fabig said that one-third of Germanys investments in India comes to Maharashtra where 300 of his country's 800 companies are operating.

He said that his focus as the diplomatic representative in Mumbai would be to bridge the gap between Germany's requirements of skilled manpower through India's available large pool of a young workforce, which could be a win-win situation for both nations.

Additionally some 35,000 Indian students are pursuing higher education in Germany besides a huge number of techies who serve as IT professionals there, Fabig said.

He said that the German Consulate's Visa Section in Mumbai ranks as the "third largest in the world" and will soon climb two steps to become the world's largest.

Fabig added that even though India enjoys long-standing relations, people from both countries need to understand each other's country in the modern context.

A highly developed economy, Germany has a population of around 8.25-crore - or roughly two-thirds of Maharashtra's 12 crore people - and it has the world's third-oldest population with an average age of 48, compared with India's average range of 28 years.

For football lovers of this country, the envoy conveyed to Bais that the German football club, Bayern Munich is keen to organise football training camps and tourneys in India, especially the mofussil areas to promote the game here.

The Governor accorded a warm welcome to Fabig and said that Maharashtra has set up a skill university to produce a large pool of skilled manpower for diverse trades which would work not only for India but for the entire world.