Bridging India’s Skill Gap

The launch of the Rs 60,000-crore Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through upgraded ITIs marks a historic milestone in India’s journey toward building a skilled and employable workforce for the 21st century. The ambitious initiative aims to transform 1,000 Government ITIs into modern, industry-aligned training hubs that can truly prepare the youth for the changing face of technology and industrial processes. For decades, ITIs have served as the backbone of vocational training in India, offering courses across 169 trades and producing nearly 9 lakh trained students annually. However, despite their scale and reach, the reality is that a large portion of these graduates remain unemployable, not because of a lack of effort, but because the curriculum they follow has long outlived its relevance. The skills being imparted in many of these institutions are tailored to a bygone industrial era, while the world outside has moved toward automation, artificial intelligence, robotics, and precision manufacturing.
Courses like plumbing, electrical work, or mechanical fitting-though still necessary-are no longer sufficient to sustain a livelihood in today’s technology-driven economy. Modern machines, digital interfaces, and smart systems have replaced much of the manual work that once defined industrial labour. As a result, industries across sectors-from automotive and electronics to logistics and manufacturing-are demanding a new breed of technicians and operators who can handle advanced machinery, integrate AI-based tools, and maintain automated systems.
Recognising this glaring mismatch between education and employment, PM-SETU represents a long-overdue overhaul of India’s vocational training landscape. Under this initiative, special-purpose vehicles will be set up with credible industry partners to manage ITI clusters and ensure outcome-based training. The collaboration with anchor industries is crucial because it ensures that training will no longer be theoretical or outdated but tailored directly to what the job market actually demands.
The first phase of PM-SETU will roll out 15 hub-and-spoke clusters. This phased approach is both pragmatic and strategic. It allows the Government and industry to test models, upgrade infrastructure, and retrain faculty before scaling up nationwide. The hub-and-spoke model envisioned under PM-SETU is particularly noteworthy. Two hundred hub ITIs will act as centres of excellence, equipped with advanced labs, innovation centres, production units, and trainer development facilities. These will connect to 800 spoke ITIs that will extend the reach of quality training to smaller towns and rural areas. Such an ecosystem can bridge the urban-rural divide in skilling while maintaining consistency in quality. Further, the scheme’s focus on strengthening five National Skill Training Institutes-in Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kanpur, and Ludhiana-as global centres of excellence underlines India’s intent to compete at a global scale. By aligning these institutes with international partners, India can adopt global best practices in technical education and certification, thereby enhancing the credibility and employability of Indian workers abroad.
Importantly, the scheme recognises that the future of employment is not confined to traditional manufacturing alone. Sectors like hospitality, tourism, BFSI, logistics, and IT-enabled services are expanding rapidly and require trained manpower with domain-specific technical and soft skills. The integration of vocational skill labs in Navodaya Vidyalayas and Eklavya Model Residential Schools across 12 key sectors will help inculcate an early awareness and aptitude for skill-based learning among students. This transformation is not merely about modernising buildings or machinery-it’s about modernising mindsets. The move reflects a clear acknowledgement that Government jobs are shrinking, and the only sustainable path forward is to create a workforce that is self-reliant, employable, and globally competitive. A technically proficient youth population can be India’s greatest strength, fuelling industries, attracting investment, and propelling the nation toward becoming a global manufacturing and innovation hub.
PM-SETU has the potential to significantly impact India’s economic narrative. The initiative has the potential to usher in a second industrial revolution, powered not by imported technology alone, but by homegrown, highly skilled manpower. India’s demographic dividend can only translate into real growth when its youth are empowered with the right skills at the right time. The Government’s vision is ambitious, but achievable-with industry collaboration, continuous curriculum updates, and a relentless focus on quality.

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