PM-SETU: hub-and-spoke upgrade of government Industrial Training Institutes
Why in news: In PM-SETU's first year, 850 ITIs were identified and 14 cluster plans worth Rs 3,446 crore approved, the government said on 3 October 2026.
PM-SETU (Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs) is a Rs 60,000 crore centrally sponsored scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to upgrade 1,000 government Industrial Training Institutes as 200 hubs and 800 spokes, under industry-led management. By its first anniversary on 4 October 2026, 850 ITIs had been identified.
Syllabus: GS3 · Indian Economy & Growth; Prelims · Economy & Social Development; GS2 · Government Policies
In short
PM-SETU (Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs) is MSDE's Rs 60,000 crore centrally sponsored scheme to run 1,000 government ITIs as government-owned, industry-managed institutes.
PM-SETU will be judged by employable graduates, not upgraded buildings: industry control needs portable skills, trained instructors and open access.
Why it matters
For a 17-year-old in a district town choosing a trade, the local ITI decides whether that trade leads to a job. Many ITIs still teach on old machines in courses employers no longer want. PM-SETU proposes to give a nearby employer the controlling stake in running the cluster, so courses, labs and placements follow local demand, and it adds new courses in drones, electric vehicles, solar energy and artificial intelligence. The larger question is whether India can make vocational training a first choice instead of a fallback, and turn its young population into a skilled workforce.
Prelims pointers
- PM-SETU: Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; centrally sponsored; the Asian Development Bank and World Bank co-finance 50% of the Central share equally.
- ITIs are under State and UT administrative and financial control; the Directorate General of Training (MSDE) frames national norms, curricula, affiliation and trade testing.
- Craftsmen Training Scheme: ITI courses of six months to two years in engineering and non-engineering trades; introduced in 1950.
- Seventh Schedule: 'vocational and technical training of labour' is in Entry 25 of the Concurrent List.
- National Skill Training Institutes: DGT institutes that train ITI instructors; five host PM-SETU's National Centres of Excellence for Skilling.
- Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY): the Ministry of Rural Development's placement-linked skilling for poor rural youth, not an MSDE scheme.
- Apprentices Act, 1961 governs apprenticeship; the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme is MSDE's, the National Apprenticeship Training Scheme the Ministry of Education's.
- National Strategy for Additive Manufacturing (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, 2022): additive manufacturing is also one of the new ITI courses.
Practise a UPSC-style question
With reference to PM-SETU (Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs), consider the following statements:
1. The scheme is administered by the Ministry of Education as part of its vocational education reforms.
2. It is a centrally sponsored scheme whose cost is shared by the Centre, the States and industry.
3. It upgrades 1,000 government Industrial Training Institutes in a hub-and-spoke arrangement.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only
1 is incorrect: PM-SETU is a scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. 2 is correct: its Rs 60,000 crore outlay is shared by the Centre (Rs 30,000 crore), States (Rs 20,000 crore) and industry (Rs 10,000 crore). 3 is correct: it upgrades 1,000 government ITIs as 200 hubs and 800 spokes.
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