7 more ITIs to be centres of excellence

The Orissa government will soon recommend to the Centre for grant of Centre of Excellence (CE) status to 7 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs).

While the case of 4 ITIs will be recommended under the national scheme to upgrade 500 ITIs with World Bank assistance, 3 ITIs will be recommended under a parallel scheme to upgrade 1396 government ITIs across the country through public-private -partnership (PPP) mode.

The ITIs selected for World Bank scheme included Bolangir ITI, Koraput ITI (Ambagadia), Phulbani ITI and women’s ITI in Bhubaneswar. Similarly, women’s ITI (Baripada), Barbil ITI and women’s ITI, Dhenkanal will be recommended for upgradation as Centre of Excellence under the PPP scheme.

“We will recommend the names of four ITIs under the World Bank scheme while three other ITIs will be developed in the PPP mode to turn them into Centres of Excellence”, A P Padhi, secretary, industries, Orissa government told Business Standard.

Sources said, though the state government intended to recommend 5 ITIs for CE status in the PPP mode, it could find 3 industry partners willing to adopt these institutes. Accordingly, 3 ITIs will be recommended for upgradation in PPP mode.

In the World Bank scheme, the designated ITIs can avail grant of Rs 2.5 to 3 crore. The Institute Management Committees (IMCs) are empowered to spend the amount. Besides, the principals of these institutions have also been given additional financial power.

In the scheme to upgrade 1396 government ITIs in PPP mode, the ITIs are entitled to avail interest free loan up to Rs 3 crore for each centre. It is provided by the GoI directly to the Institute Management Committees (IMCs) on the basis of the Institute Development Plan (IDP) prepared by them.

While the industry partner will be the chairman of the IMC, the interest free loan will be repayable by the IMCs over a period of 30 years with a moratorium of 10 years.

Padhi said, new curriculum based on the requirement of the industry has been developed. While the students are imparted Broad Based Basic Training (BBBT) in advanced and specialised modules, the teachers are being trained by the Union government at their Centres.

Last year, four ITIs were adopted by industry partners due to the initiative taken by the Orissa government and the state chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).