PM-SETU at one year: what ITIs and factories can do now
One year in, 850 ITIs have been picked and 14 clusters approved. ITIs will soon have to prove results, and factories have a say in what trainees learn.
· 3 min read · For iTI principals, State training staff and factories that hire ITI trainees
On 3 October, PIB published a one-year update on PM-SETU, the ₹60,000 crore scheme to upgrade government ITIs. If you run an ITI, you want to know whether your institute is in and what it will be asked to show. If you run a factory short of skilled hands, you want a say in the training. Here is what the update says and what to do now.
What the scheme is
PM-SETU was launched on 4 October 2025. The money comes from the Centre (₹30,000 crore), the States (₹20,000 crore) and industry (₹10,000 crore). It covers 1,000 government ITIs: 200 hub ITIs and 800 spoke ITIs. Each hub is linked to about four spokes, which share its labs and trades. A second part upgrades five National Skill Training Institutes, including NSTI Chennai, which has an agreement with Singapore.
Each cluster is run by a special purpose vehicle, a company formed for that cluster. The anchor industry partner holds 51% of it. The Centre and the State hold 24.5% each.
What has happened in one year
- 850 ITIs identified: 172 hubs and 678 spokes.
- Investment plans for 14 clusters approved, worth ₹3,446 crore, across eight States and one Union Territory. None of the 14 is in Tamil Nadu.
- The national steering committee has approved a rollout across all 200 clusters.
- DGT has added 32 new-age courses in areas such as AI, cyber security, electric vehicles, semiconductors, robotics, drones and solar energy. States can adopt them in their ITIs.
In Tamil Nadu, the training department plans to upgrade 30 government ITIs in six clusters: Ambattur, Trichy, Madurai, Coimbatore, Thoothukudi and Hosur. Its call for an anchor partner for the Ambattur cluster closed on 5 May 2026.
If you run an ITI
The State picks which ITIs join, in consultation with industry, and the scheme covers government ITIs only. If yours is picked, the money comes with targets. In the Ambattur document, later fund releases depend on results such as higher enrolment, a 90% pass rate and a placement rate above 75%. Salary gains are measured against a baseline. You will need records you can defend:
- Admissions entered once, with each trainee's details the same in every register.
- Daily attendance by trade and batch, not a monthly total.
- Assessment marks tied to the trainee and the course, including new courses.
- Placement records with employer, role and starting salary, checked again after joining.
Start keeping these before the targets begin. A baseline you cannot prove weakens every number that follows.
If you run a factory
Being the anchor partner is a large commitment. The Ambattur document asked for average yearly turnover of ₹1,000 crore, net worth of ₹300 crore and 300 employees. A group of companies can bid together if the group meets these figures and the lead member alone has ₹300 crore turnover, ₹100 crore net worth and 100 employees.
Smaller firms still have a way in. Bidders are scored on placement plans and apprenticeship tie-ups, so an anchor has reason to line up nearby factories that will take apprentices and hire trainees. Write down the trades you hire for, how many people a year, and the skills new hires lack. Take that to your nearest hub ITI or the State training department.
How we can help
For ITIs, we build simple systems for admissions, attendance, assessments and placements, in Tamil and English, that produce the reports a cluster must file. See our services. For factories, our industry work covers the shop floor these trainees will join. If you are weighing either role, talk to us.
