India to upgrade 1,896 state-run industrial training institutes

The central government, jointly with the state governments has launched two major schemes for upgradation of 1,896 government-run industrial training institutes (ITIs).

Under the first scheme, 500 ITIs will be upgraded. Of this, 100 ITIs will be upgraded through domestic funding, at a cost of Rs160 crore while the other 400 ITIs will be upgraded under a World Bank-assisted Vocational Training Improvement Project, at a cost of about Rs1,581 crore.

So far, the government has released an amount of Rs802 crore to various states under the project, union minister for labour and employment Mallikarjun Kharge told a meeting of the National Council for Vocational Training in New Delhi today.

He said the World Bank-assisted project not only involves up-gradation of ITIs into centres of excellence but also supports major reforms in the vocational training system in the country.

The scheme also aims at another important initiative to upgrade 1,396 ITIs by involving private sector by way of setting up Institute Management Committees (IMC) as registered societies wherein the local industries will be associated in a big way and academic and financial autonomy given to IMCs to run the institutes.

They will also be provided Rs2.5 crore as interest free loan repayable in 20 equal annual installments in 30 years after a moratorium of 10 years. So far around 900 ITIs have been covered. A total of Rs2,250 crore has been released to these it is, he said.
 
The meeting also decided to strengthen national policy on skill development through broader mandate and reengineering of NCVT.