India’s apprenticeship scheme: Unemployment is India’s most familiar policy worry. The country has a large young population, a long list of skilling schemes and too few secure jobs. The National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme was meant to be the practical answer. It linked young workers to workplaces, with the government sharing part of the stipend.
That promise is weakening at the point where the scheme needs candidates.
Applications generated under NAPS fell to a little over 4 lakh in 2025, down from 42.8 lakh in 2022. They had slipped to nearly 30 lakh in 2023 and 25 lakh in 2024 before the sharper fall. Employers, meanwhile, have continued to list apprenticeship opportunities. The portal data cited in the draft show nearly 77 lakh vacancies created since inception, with more than 70 lakh positions still available.
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This is not a simple story of employers walking away. Official data show apprentices engaged under NAPS rose from 3.08 lakh in FY2020-21 to 9.85 lakh in FY2024-25. NAPS-2, in place since FY2022-23, provides 25% of the minimum prescribed stipend, capped at ₹1,500 a month, paid through DBT to the apprentice’s bank account.
NAPS applications and the vacancy gap
The problem is the gap between listed opportunities and candidate demand. Apprenticeships are meant to convert education into work experience. They are different from classroom skilling. The apprentice learns inside a firm, under workplace discipline, with some income and a possible route to a job.
That model has worked in Germany, Switzerland and Austria because firms, vocational schools and industry bodies carry the system together. In India, the law and the portal exist. The social contract is weaker.
The Apprentices Act requires establishments with 30 or more workers, including contract workers, to engage apprentices in the range of 2.5% to 15% of their workforce. Yet participation remains shallow. NITI Aayog’s 2026 report records that registered establishments under NAPS fell from 2.03 lakh in FY2020-21 to 1.96 lakh in FY2024-25. Active establishments were almost flat at about 51,000. More than 74% of registered establishments remained inactive on average each year.
That is where the scheme loses force. Registration on a portal does not create training capacity. A vacancy listing does not persuade a young worker to migrate, rent a room, and accept a modest stipend without a firm job offer at the end.
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Apprenticeship stipends and relocation costs
The stipend is the first hard constraint. Minimum monthly stipends under NAPS range from ₹6,800 for Class 5 to Class 9 pass-outs to ₹12,300 for graduate apprentices. Many apprentices receive about ₹10,000 to ₹15,000 a month. For a young worker from a small town or village, this is not enough to move to an industrial centre unless food, transport and housing are partly covered.
A local service job with similar cash income can look more rational. Gig work, retail work and local delivery jobs pay sooner. They do not require a training period, documents, relocation or uncertainty over conversion into regular employment.
This is not impatience among young workers. It is arithmetic. An apprenticeship that costs money to take up will lose to a lower-status local job that pays immediately.
National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme needs employers
Industry also bears responsibility. Many firms still treat apprentices as a compliance item. Small and medium enterprises find the process cumbersome. Larger firms use apprenticeships unevenly, depending on immediate workforce needs. Public sector participation has weakened. NITI Aayog records the private sector share in active establishments rising from 68.13% in 2018-19 to 83.12% in 2024-25, while the public sector share fell from 31.87% to 16.88%.
The scheme cannot scale on portal listings alone. It needs employers who see apprenticeships as a hiring pipeline, not cheap labour or paperwork. It also needs colleges, ITIs and state skill missions to guide candidates into local and sectoral opportunities.
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Prestige is a second constraint. Families still prefer degrees and government jobs. Vocational training carries a lower social rank. Apprenticeships are seen as temporary, with no guarantee of absorption. That perception will not change through awareness campaigns. It will change when apprenticeships lead to visible jobs.
Apprenticeship scheme India must fix the bargain
If MSDE and industry want more candidates, the offer has to improve. Higher stipends, transport support, hostel access and clearer post-training pathways would matter more than another publicity drive. State governments can link apprenticeships to local industrial clusters so that young workers are not forced to move far for a low stipend. Educational institutions should identify candidates before they leave the system, not after they enter a crowded informal labour market.
The NAPS numbers point to a familiar weakness in Indian skilling. The programme can create a portal, a subsidy and a compliance rule. It cannot create trust unless the apprentice sees a path from training to a better job. Vacancies are easy to count. A young worker’s calculation is harder to alter.