World Bank Approves $830 Million Loan To Revamp India’s Skill Training Institutes
The $830 million loan has a final maturity of 19.5 years, including a grace period of four years.
Chennai: The World Bank has approved a $830 million loan to finance the revamp of India’s network of skills training institutes.
Jobs are central to India’s growth trajectory, competitiveness, and meeting its ambitions of becoming Viksit Bharat. India’s youth account for roughly 72 percent of the unemployed, and there is a persistent skills mismatch—between what young people are trained for and what firms need—which continues to constrain productivity, firm growth, and earnings. While the country’s system of Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) play a significant role in skilling youth, the institutes face critical challenges, with many lacking proper facilities, qualified trainers, and the resources necessary to meet industry standards. This has led to a graduate job placement rate of less than 50 per cent, WB said in a release.
The Supporting Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation Through Upgraded ITIs (PM-SETU) Program aims to revamp the network of ITIs to better align skills training with labour market needs, produce more than a million better-skilled workers each year, and bring more young graduates into the workforce. The Program, which has been prepared jointly with the Asian Development Bank, will bring private sector investment into the ITI system by mobilising at least $680 million in private capital.
The $830 million loan has a final maturity of 19.5 years, including a grace period of four years.
