ITI reform: India’s vocational training numbers look better than they are. PLFS data show that the share of people aged 15-59 with some form of vocational or technical training rose from 7.4% in 2017-18 to 34.7% in 2023-24. In 2025, the Union government approved PM-SETU, a ₹60,000 crore scheme to upgrade 1,000 government Industrial Training Institutes over five years.
The headline is expansion. The institution below it remains weak. India had about 13.3 lakh ITI students in 2024, against capacity that had crossed 23 lakh by 2022. Trainer shortages, weak industry links, uneven infrastructure, low female enrolment and poor enforcement continue to hold back the country’s main formal route for blue-collar skills.
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Vocational training in India: the PLFS split
The PLFS number needs to be read carefully. In 2023-24, only 4.1% of Indians aged 15-59 had received formal vocational or technical training. Another 30.6% came under informal training, including hereditary learning, self-learning and on-the-job learning. That informal base may be useful, but it cannot substitute for an institution that teaches a trade, assesses competence and links a student to work.
Short courses have also gained ground. Analyses of PLFS unit-level data show that courses shorter than six months rose from 22% in 2017-18 to 44% in 2023-24. Courses lasting two years or more fell from 29% to 14.3%. A certificate can be counted quickly. A fitter, machinist, welder or electrician cannot be trained by counting certificates.
ITI skill development: trainer gaps come first
The weakness is sharpest inside ITIs. NITI Aayog’s 2026 education and skilling paper says only 46.9% of sanctioned trainer positions are filled. Only 18.4% of trainers hold Craft Instructor Training Scheme certification. In a workshop-led system, this is not a staffing footnote. It decides whether a student learns a trade or merely attends a course.
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Private ITIs now dominate the system. They have expanded reach, but quality has not kept pace. Recent assessments show that newer private ITIs lag older public institutions on several quality parameters. NCVET can set norms, but enforcement still depends on state directorates, inspections, grading and public disclosure. Weak inspection turns affiliation into a licence to operate without enough accountability.
Employment outcomes reflect these gaps. Government replies and tracer studies show uneven placement, low first-job wages in several states and weak access to vacancy information. Students often face local job scarcity; when jobs are far away, wages may not cover migration costs. This is why ITIs struggle for social credibility even when industries complain of skill shortages.
PM-SETU and ITI reform: six fixes
PM-SETU can help if it does not become another upgrade programme centred on a small number of model institutions. The repair must begin with ordinary ITIs.
First, fill trainer vacancies before buying new equipment. The National Skill Training Institutes and Institutes for Training of Trainers must produce enough CITS-certified instructors for the ITI network. A five-year upgrade will fail if workshops get machines before they get trainers.
Second, make on-the-job training part of the normal ITI route. Students in remote or poorly connected ITIs should not lose out because employer links are concentrated near large industrial clusters. Every ITI needs an annual OJT plan, with firms, trades, seats and stipends disclosed.
Third, shift capital spending from flagship campuses to minimum workshop standards. Global Skills Park in Bhopal and the World Skill Centre in Bhubaneswar absorbed large public investment. Such campuses may be useful, but thousands of ITIs need working machines, tools, power, labs and maintenance budgets. A modest baseline across the system will do more than a few showcase sites.
Fourth, treat women’s low enrolment as a design failure. Women form less than 15% of ITI students. Fee subsidies help only if hostels, transport, women trainers, sanitation and safe premises are in place. The existing reservation for women cannot fill seats by itself.
Fifth, give NSDC and Sector Skill Councils measurable mandates. They cannot remain advisory bodies that produce occupation maps while ITIs continue to run trades with weak local demand. Sector councils must be judged by apprenticeship seats, employer participation, wage outcomes and trade revision.
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Sixth, build a district-level demand map. Every ITI should show when its course list was last matched with local and national labour demand. The map should use employer data, vacancy registrations, apprenticeship contracts and wage evidence. Trades with weak placement should be revised or closed.
Skill India needs stronger institutions
The Union government has built the architecture of a national skilling system. The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship was created in 2014. The National Skill Development Policy followed in 2015. Skill India gave the agenda political visibility. PM-SETU adds money and an industry-led delivery model.
The missing piece is institutional repair. Funds must reach the ordinary ITI, not only the hub. Training quality must be measured by instructors, equipment, OJT, inspection, women’s access and first-job outcomes.
Students will choose ITIs when graduates get decent work. Until then, ITIs will remain a fallback for families priced out of college or unwilling to wait for uncertain degree-led jobs. India’s skill policy has spent a decade building the banner. It now has to repair the workshop.
Aditya Prem Kumar is a Research Associate with JustJobsNetwork.