The Union Cabinet has approved a Rs.60,000 crore national scheme to upgrade Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and establish five National Centres of Excellence (NCOEs) for skilling, aimed at transforming vocational education in India. The scheme will be implemented over five years as a Centrally Sponsored Initiative, with funding shared among the Centre, State Governments, industry partners, and international financial institutions like the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. It plans to upgrade 1,000 government ITIs under a hub-and-spoke model aligned with industry needs and set up five National Skill Training Institutes in Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kanpur, and Ludhiana.
The scheme emphasizes making ITIs more aspirational, industry-managed, and equipped with modern infrastructure to meet the demands of emerging sectors such as electronics, automotive, and renewable energy. It aims to skill 20 lakh youth through industry-aligned courses and adopts an industry-led Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) model for greater collaboration between educational institutions and industry. Additionally, the initiative will focus on improving trainer quality by upgrading infrastructure at NSTIs and providing training to 50,000 trainers, thereby addressing infrastructure gaps and outdated curricula that have historically impacted employability and perceptions of vocational training.
Aligned with Prime Minister’s ‘Viksit Bharat’ vision for 2047, the scheme seeks to position vocational education as a core driver of inclusive growth and global competitiveness. With India currently hosting over 14,600 ITIs serving 14.4 lakh students, the initiative aims to create a future-ready workforce that can support the country’s industrial expansion and economic development, fostering a more skilled, employable, and industry-relevant talent pool.
