MCA likely to widen PM Internship Scheme beyond top 500 companies

In order to widen the ambit of the Prime Minister Internship Scheme, now running as a pilot programme, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has started consultations for preparing a Cabinet note on the matter, according to people in the know.

 

The MCA is likely to allow all companies engaged in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to take part in the scheme, and not restrict it to just the top 500.

 

The age for joining the scheme, according to sources, is also likely to be brought down to accommodate applicants coming from industrial training institutes and polytechnics.

 

“Lessons from the two pilots, of which one is still going on, will be incorporated in the scheme. The targets and allocation are much larger for the full-fledged scheme,” a source close to the development said.

 

The government is likely to launch the scheme fully by September, accommodating what has been gleaned from the ongoing pilot programme.  

 

In the Budget for 2025-26, allocation for the internship scheme was increased to ₹10,831.07 crore from ₹380 crore in the revised estimates for 2024-25.

 

According to the CSR portal, 24,392 companies were engaged in CSR in 2022-23. During the pilot stage of the internship programme, based on their average CSR expenditure for the last three years, the top 500 are eligible to take part in the scheme.

 

These companies can also tie up with entities such as suppliers, customers, and vendors. They can take up this scheme voluntarily.

 

Other companies have had to take permission from the MCA to take part in the project. The scheme was launched as a pilot on October 3 last year to help the government to refine it.

 

In its pilot, the scheme, announced in the Budget of 2024-25 to increase the employability of the youth, has seen a poor takeup among interns owing to factors such as location, the travel factor, and the duration of internship.

 

In the first round, more than 127,000 internships were provided and the second round saw around 115,000 offers.

 

Starting December last year, of the more than 28,000 candidates who accepted the offer, about 8,700 interns joined, according to a standing committee report.

 

The course, so far

 

• 24,392 firms engaged in CSR activity as of FY23
• Top 500 firms based on average CSR spend for 3 years were eligible for scheme in pilot stage
• 127,000 internships offered in first round; 115,000 in 2nd round
• 28,000 have accepted offers since Dec 2024; 8,700 joined
• ₹10,831.07 cr earmarked for scheme in FY26 Budget; FY25 revised estimate was ₹380 cr