Employment for growth: India needs a vibrant apprenticeship ecosystem

A NITI Aayog report calls for major reforms to India's apprenticeship system, urging stronger industry participation and better integration with education to support job-led growth

The NITI Aayog recently released a report titled “Revitalizing India’s Apprenticeship Ecosystem”, calling apprenticeship central to the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision. India’s apprenticeship architecture is anchored in the Apprentices Act, 1961, operationalised through the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (Naps), under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and the National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (Nats), under the Ministry of Education. The report notes that over 51,000 establishments were active under Naps as of FY25, but participation and completion vary sharply across states. 

Despite recent expansion, India’s apprenticeship ecosystem remains fragmented and uneven. In 2024-25, while 1.31 million candidates registered for apprenticeship, only 985,000 were engaged and barely 251,000 completed their training — exposing significant leakages between enrolment, engagement, and completion. There is also a stark asymmetry in industry participation: Medium and large enterprises constitute fewer than 30 per cent of active establishments but account for over 70 per cent of apprenticeship engagement, highlighting the limited contribution of smaller firms despite their dominance in overall employment. Weak linkages between educational institutions and industry further undermine programme effectiveness. Gender disparities also remain a major concern. Women account for only 18.2 per cent of the apprentice pool. 

While the National Education Policy 2020 calls for integrating vocational education and “earning while learning”, apprenticeships are not yet seamlessly embedded in higher education pathways. The apprenticeship-embedded degree programme is a step forward, but alignment with the national credit framework, stronger university participation, and clearer credit portability are required. To bridge these gaps, the report recommends establishing a consolidated national-apprenticeship mission, which would serve as an umbrella framework for all apprenticeship initiatives. It envisions a single-window digital interface called the national apprenticeship portal, which integrates information on diverse apprenticeship programmes and provides streamlined access through one common platform. It recommends creating an apprenticeship-engagement index to benchmark state performance, standardising evaluation and assessment protocols, and empowering district skill committees as local anchors. To widen participation, it proposes introducing an apprenticeship-linked incentive scheme that provides financial incentives to both employers and apprentices, particularly targeting aspirational districts, the Northeast, and women apprentices. 

For industry, it suggests cluster-based consortia of micro, small, and medium enterprises, a startup apprenticeship programme, and expansion into gig and sunrise sectors such as electric mobility, green energy, and digital services. Targeted incentives for aspirational districts and women apprentices, alongside post-training support and social-security coverage, can be critical for improving retention and completion. Apprenticeships must move from being treated as a scheme to becoming a strategic pipeline for job-led growth. If effectively implemented, these reforms can strengthen India’s education-to-employment bridge and help convert its demographic potential into sustained economic momentum.