MSDE may launch new entrepreneurship scheme for students: Budget documents

Budget documents say the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship is developing a national entrepreneurship scheme for students across schools and colleges

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) is developing a new national entrepreneurship scheme for students in schools, ITI/vocational institutes and higher education institutions, according to budget documents.

 

The document titled Implementation of Budget Announcements 2025-26 includes status updates of schemes announced in last year’s Budget. In the Union Budget 2025-26, the government had announced a scheme for five lakh women, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes who are first-time entrepreneurs. This is popularly called the Stand-Up India 2.0 scheme.

 

Under the updates for this scheme, the document states that MSDE is working on the implementation based on an Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) memorandum prepared by the Department of Financial Services.

 

For its implementation, MSDE is also focusing on upskilling students through another entrepreneurship scheme.

 

“The Ministry (of Skill Development) is in the process of developing a new national entrepreneurship scheme for students in schools, ITI/vocational institutes and HEIs,” the document says.

 

MSDE will also create online training modules to teach people how to start and run a business — including entrepreneurship, business and management skills — under Stand-Up India 2.0. These modules will be hosted on a dedicated portal developed by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). MSDE is also working with the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises for the implementation of this scheme.

 

MSDE’s budgetary allocation increased 265.7 per cent this year compared to the revised estimates for 2025-26. The ministry was allocated Rs 9,885.8 crore for 2026-27, while it was allocated Rs 6,100.1 crore last year. Of this, it spent only Rs 2,703.54 crore, which is 44.32 per cent of the budgetary allocation.

 

This year, the largest outlay under the ministry has gone to the Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs (PM SETU) scheme at Rs 6,140.5 crore.

 

The Stand-Up India 2.0 scheme was preceded by the Stand-Up India scheme, launched in 2016 and valid till March 2025. The scheme facilitated over 2.75 lakh loans to SC/ST and women entrepreneurs across the country, including 1,92,217 loans amounting to Rs 43,884.41 crore to women entrepreneurs as of March 2025, according to a Rajya Sabha response by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) at MSDE, Jayant Chaudhary.