Budget draws road map for industry-ready workforce

Internship opportunities, easy skilling loans, new centrally sponsored scheme, and ITI upgrade announced

- SHIVA RAJORA

A year-long paid internship opportunity to 10 million youth in India's top 500 companies over the next five years. An industry collaboration to upgrade 1,000 industrial training institutes (ITIS). These were some of the measures announced in the Union Budget 2024 to skill the youth and make them job-ready.

To bridge the gap between the skilldevelopment ecosystem and employment opportunities, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also announced a new centrally sponsored scheme as part of the ₹2 trillion Prime Minister's package aimed at addressing this issue.

This scheme, with an outlay of ₹60,000 crore, aims to skill over 2 million youth over the next five years in collaboration with state governments and the industry. The focus is on outcome and quality of skilling, with course content and design aligned to the needs of the industry.

Of the ₹60,000 crore, state governments will contribute ₹20,000 crore and the industry ₹10,000 crore, including from its corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds.

Meanwhile, ITIs will also be upgraded at a cost of 30,000 crore over the next five years.