The ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship (MSDE) is at an “advanced stage of discussion” to launch the “ITI upgradation” scheme announced by the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in FY25 budget.
As a first step, the ministry is upgrading the existing five National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) into National Centres of Excellence (NCoE) for skilling that will train the instructors who will provide industry-relevant skills to over 20 million individuals enrolled in the 1,000 upgraded ITIs over five years.
“The official launch of the scheme will happen shortly. We are awaiting approval from the prime minister’s office (PMO) to finalise the official name of the scheme. We have set aside Rs 1,500 crore from the scheme’s overall budget (Rs 60,000 crore) to revamp NSTIs into centres of excellence,” said a ministry official.
The ITI upgradation scheme was approved by the union cabinet on May 7. “The NCoE will equip trainers with new/upgraded industry-aligned courses with special emphasis on areas like automotive, manufacturing, textile and new-age skills like artificial intelligence and EV,” said the official.
The centres of excellence, which are located in Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kanpur and Ludhiana, will also focus on enhancing the instructor capabilities through global exposure.
The official said that MSDE is close to finalising the proposals sent by the stakeholders (industry and state governments) to shortlist ITIs which are required to be upgraded.
“We are engaging with the industry and state governments to prepare a list of ITIs which can be targetted in the pilot phase. We will start with few ITIs. The ministry has got proposals from various state government who are keen to include their ITIs for upgradation,” the official said.
Even though the scheme talks about upgrading of government-run ITIs, the official said that the ministry is open to evaluate proposals from private ITIs as well, especially those who are doing well.
The scheme has envisaged the upgradation through a hub-and-spoke model where 200 ITIs will act as hubs and remaining 800 institutes as spokes. As per the scheme, the upgradation is expected to be led by industry who will invest in the selected ITIs through special purpose vehicle (SPV) to improve their infrastructure and equipment.
Broadly, out of the total of Rs 60,000 crore, Rs 30,000 crore contribution will come from the central government, Rs 20,000 crore from the state governments and Rs 10,000 crore from the industry. The funding would also include co-financing to the extent of 50% of central share by the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank equally.
In her FY26 budget speech, Sitharaman had said that “five NCoE for skilling will be set up with global expertise and partnerships to equip our youth with the skills required for Make for India, Make for the World manufacturing. The partnerships will cover curriculum design, training of trainers, a skills certification framework, and periodic reviews.”
At the end of 2024 academic year, 14,614 ITIs were functioning in the country, out of which 3,316 are government-run and 11,298 are private.
Source from: https://www.financialexpress.com/jobs-career/education-scheme-to-upgrade-1000-itis-ready-for-roll-out-3849192/
