SPVs with anchor partners to be set up under ₹60,000 cr PM-SETU scheme

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Special purpose vehicles with credible anchor industry partners will be set up under the Rs 60,000-crore PM-SETU scheme to manage clusters and ensure outcome-based training, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs (PM-SETU), launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, new, demand-driven courses will be introduced in a bid to transform 1,000 government ITIs across India into modern, industry-aligned training institutions.

Besides, existing courses will be revamped in collaboration with industries.

The scheme will also help create pathways for long-term diplomas, short-term courses, and executive programmes.

PM-SETU will follow a hub-and-spoke model, with 200 hub ITIs linked to 800 spoke ITIs.

Each hub will be equipped with advanced infrastructure, innovation and incubation centres, production units, training of trainer facilities, and placement services, while the spokes will extend access and outreach.

The scheme also envisages strengthening of five National Skill Training Institutes in Bhubaneswar (Odisha), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Hyderabad (Telangana), Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh), Ludhiana (Punjab) as Centres of Excellence with global partnerships.

Under the first phase of PM-SETU, 15 hub-and-spoke ITI clusters have been identified across the country, spanning diverse regions and industrial ecosystems.

These include Sonipat (Haryana), Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Bijnor and Meerut (Uttar Pradesh), Haridwar (Uttarakhand), Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh), Bengaluru Urban (Karnataka), Bharatpur (Rajasthan), Darbhanga and Patna (Bihar), Hoshiarpur (Punjab), Hyderabad (Telangana), Sambalpur (Odisha), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), and Guwahati (Assam).

Each cluster will serve as a centre of excellence in skills, equipped with advanced infrastructure, modern trades, and industry-led training, creating model ecosystems.

Addressing the launch programme, Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Jayant Chaudhary said the PM-SETU is a very ambitious and important scheme.

"The ITIs impart training to 169 trades and this year, nearly 9 lakh students have achieved the national trade certificate (NTC). It is perhaps for the first time in India's history that such a large-scale investment is being done in ITIs via PM-SETU," said the minister.

He observed that the 1,200 Vocational Skill Labs established in Navodaya Vidyalayas and Eklavya Model Residential schools will impart skills to students across 12 key sectors including IT, automotive, agriculture, electronics, logistics, BFSI, tourism, hospitality, etc.