Under the Government of India’s Skill India Mission (SIM), launched in 2015, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) provides skill, re-skill, and up-skill training through an extensive network of skill development centres under major schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS), National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), and the Craftsman Training Scheme (CTS) in Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), to all sections of the society across the country, to enhance the skills and employability of the working age population. These initiatives collectively promote NSQF-aligned skilling, digital and financial literacy, soft skills and entrepreneurship, and are supported by large-scale mobilization and awareness campaigns under the 'Skill India' banner, including Kaushal Melas, apprenticeship drives, and digital outreach via the Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH).

Since the launch of SIM, considerable achievements have been made in the area of skill development. Under this mission, PMKVY scheme, introduced in 2015–16, has trained and certified over 1.64 crore candidates (up to 31 December, 2025). Under JSS scheme, a total number of 34.14 lakh persons have been trained from 2018-19 to 31st December 2025. Under NAPS, 51.30 lakh apprentices have been engaged from 2016–17 to 2025–26 (up to 31 December 2025). The number of ITIs has increased from 9,776 in 2014 to 14,688 at present. The Cabinet has also approved Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability through Upgraded ITIs (PM SETU) scheme, with an estimated outlay of ₹60,000 crore, over a period of five years, aimed at upgrading 1,000 ITIs through a Hub (200)–Spoke (800) model to enhance vocational training relevance. Due to these collective efforts, the percentage of youth aged 15–29 who are vocationally trained has increased from 7.1% in 2017–18 to 26.1% in 2023–24.

Further, among the schemes of MSDE, placements were specifically tracked only in the Short Term Training (STT) component of PMKVY in the first three versions i.e., PMKVY 1.0, PMKVY 2.0 and PMKVY 3.0 of the scheme implemented from FY 2015-16 to FY 2021-22. Under PMKVY 4.0, the focus was to empower our trained candidates to choose their varied career path and they are suitably oriented for the same. Further, various IT tools like Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH) also gives this opportunity.

Impact of schemes for skill development is assessed through their third party independent evaluation. The evaluation of schemes of MSDE have acknowledged their positive outcome and mentioned about their success in terms of placement or livelihood improvement of candidates trained, as indicated below:

PMKVY: MSDE’s flagship scheme PMKVY was evaluated by NITI Aayog in October 2020 and as per the study, about 94 percent of the employers surveyed reported they would hire more candidates trained under PMKVY. Further, 52 percent of the candidates who were placed in full time/part time employment and oriented under the RPL component received higher salary or felt that they will get higher salary compared to their un-certified peers.

JSS: Evaluation study of JSS scheme conducted in 2020 found that the training nearly doubled household incomes for beneficiaries, with strong participation from women (79%) and rural communities (50.5%). The study reported significant livelihood improvements, including better employment for 73.4% of trainees, higher incomes for 89.1%, and effective beneficiary mobilization at 85.7%. It also noted that 77% of trainees shifted to new occupations, reflecting the scheme’s strong focus on self-employment in line with the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative.

ITIs: The final report of Tracer Study of ITI Graduates published in 2018 by MSDE mentions that 63.5% of total ITI pass-outs got employed (wage+self, out of which 6.7% are self-employed).

NAPS: Third-party evaluation study of NAPS conducted in 2021 observed that the scheme improved youth employability by providing structured on-the-job training and increasing apprentices participation across industries. In the new version of the scheme, DBT method has been adopted to transfer government's share directly to apprentices' bank accounts, as streamlined reimbursement process was recommended in the report.

Advanced digital skills and Artificial Intelligence (AI) related training constitutes an important component of the Skill India Mission. PMKVY training centres/Skill Development Centres have been offering job roles in IT-ITeS and AI-related domains in alignment with National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) compliant Qualification Packs. These courses are developed and periodically updated in consultation with the relevant Sector Skill Councils and industry partners to reflect emerging technologies and labour-market demand and are anchored in NSQF and operate under the regulatory oversight of NCVET.

A total number of 5,10,732 candidates have been trained/oriented in AI/IoT/Industry 4.0 specific job roles such as AI – Business Intelligence Analyst, Data Engineer, Data Scientist, Machine Learning Engineer, DevOps Engineer, Solution Architect, Database Administrator, Pharma covigilance Case Processing using AI tools, broader IT/digital domain (including web and mobile application development, domestic data entry, CRM, domestic IT helpdesk, junior software developer, cloud and IoT-related roles, etc.) and 3,59,659 candidates have been certified.

This information was given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Shri Jayant Chaudhary in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

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