In July 2025, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) constituted a National Steering Committee (NSC) headed by Rajit Punhani, Secretary of MSDE, to oversee the implementation of the Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) upgradation scheme and the establishment of five National Centres of Excellence (CoEs) for skilling.
- The scheme will operate under a hub-and-spoke model with a target to skill over 2 million youth in five years.
About National Steering Committee (NSC):
i.The NSC has been established to oversee the transformation of 1,000 government ITIs into future-ready institutions and to formulate regulations for setting up five CoEs focused on developing a skilled workforce for the manufacturing sector.
ii.The NSC will be responsible for issuing scheme guidelines, providing overall policy direction, reallocating funds among various components within the total scheme outlay, and making necessary modifications to minor components not initially included but essential for effective implementation.
iii.Additionally, it will ensure coordination among central, state, and cluster-level entities, review state proposals, and grant final approval for selected bids.
Composition of the NSC:
i.Chairperson: Rajit Punhani, Secretary, MSDE
ii.Members: Representatives from ministries including Ministry of Education (MoE), Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI), Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoC&I), and Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE).
iii.Industry Representatives: Bajaj Auto Limited (Pune, Maharashtra), ITC Limited (Kolkata, West Bengal, WB), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Bengaluru (Karnataka), Hero MotoCorp Limited (New Delhi, Delhi).
iv.State Government Nominees.
About ITI upgradation scheme:
i.The scheme has a total financial outlay of Rs. 60,000 crore over five years.
ii.The Central Government will contribute Rs. 30,000 crore, which will be equally co-financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank (WB).
iii.The States will contribute Rs. 20,000 crore, while the remaining Rs. 10,000 crore will be mobilised from the industry through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funding.
About Five Centres of Excellence (CoEs):
The Government of India(GoI) has approved the establishment of five CoEs in existing National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) located in:
- Bhubaneswar (Odisha)
- Chennai (Tamil Nadu, TN)
- Hyderabad (Telangana)
- Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh, UP)
- Ludhiana (Punjab)
About Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE):
Minister of State (MoS) (Independent Charge, IC) – Jayant Chaudhary (Rajya Sabha – Uttar Pradesh, UP)
