Parliament Question: Entrepreneurship Initiatives under PMKVY 4.0

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5771 ANSWERED ON 30.03.2026 ENTREPRENEURSHIP INITIATIVES UNDER PMKVY 4.0 †5771. SHRI NARAYAN TATU RANE: Will the Minister of SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP be pleased to state: (a) the entrepreneurship-centric initiatives implemented under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY 4.0), Entrepreneurship Development Programmes and other allied schemes during the year 2025 and the current year; (b) the number of youth who have established enterprises or have been provided structured entrepreneurship support so far; (c) the role of institutional partnerships with Startup India, financial institutions and incubation centers in enabling enterprise creation and expansion; and (d) whether the Government proposes any targeted incentives, sector- specific support or convergence measures to further strengthen sustainable youth entrepreneurship outcomes and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) IN THE MINISTRY OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a) and (b): The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has taken various initiatives to promote entrepreneurship in the country. During the year 2025, multiple entrepreneurship focused initiatives were implemented with the objective of promoting self- employment, enterprise creation and sustainable livelihoods, particularly among youth, women, SHGs and aspiring micro entrepreneurs. These initiatives were aligned with the Skill India Mission under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY 4.0), Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM JANMAN), Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA), and PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana. The Ministry through its autonomous organizations, namely, National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) and Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE) has implemented various Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDPs) and Entrepreneurship and Skill Development Programmes (ESDPs) under various schemes to promote entrepreneurship amongst all sections of the society. These EDPs and ESDPs are designed to impart entrepreneurial, financial and managerial skills and also to offer post-training support through mentorship, handholding, and access to credit/finance, market linkages and incubation facilities. Under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 4.0, the emphasis is on empowering trained candidates to pursue diverse career pathways by providing appropriate orientation, with a strong focus on entrepreneurship and livelihood creation through On-the-Job Training (OJT) embedded industry-relevant skill courses. Also, Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH) platform has been launched as a one-stop platform that integrates skilling, education, employment, and entrepreneurship ecosystems to provide a lifelong array of services targeting a wide range of stakeholders. Details of the trained candidates are available on SIDH portal for connecting with potential employers. Through SIDH, candidates canhave access to jobs, apprenticeship opportunities and other facilities, including loans for entrepreneurship. Job role–wise details of candidates trained under PMKVY 4.0 in FY 2025–26, related to entrepreneurship, are given below: Sl. No. Job Role Name Trained / Oriented i. Dairy Farmer/Entrepreneur 159 ii. Green Hydrogen Plant Entrepreneur 336 iii. Handloom Entrepreneur 31 iv. Processed Food Entrepreneur 108 v. Street Food Vendor - Standalone 2,105 Total 2,739 Additionally, a number of project proposals have been approved under PMKVY 4.0 in FY 2025– 26 with overall target of 81,825 spreading across various entrepreneurship related job roles such as Street Food Vendor – Standalone, Dairy Farmer Entrepreneur, and Livestock Green Management Promoter. Under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 (PMKVY 4.0) the key Entrepreneurship Development Programme funded as special projects during 2025 and the enterprises created/ Van Dhan Kendras established/ Jan Poshan Kendras established are placed at Annexure-I. In addition, there are various initiatives being implemented by NIESBUD and IIE for promotion of entrepreneurship in the country. The details of such initiatives including the number of youth who have established enterprises or accessed structured entrepreneurship support are placed at Annexure-II. The number of youth who have established enterprises or benefited from structured entrepreneurship support are placed at Annexure-III. (c) and (d) Institutional partnerships with Startup India, financial institutions and incubation centres play a critical enabling role in enterprise creation and scalability. The Ministry has been implementing sector specific interventions and convergence measures to strengthen institutional partnerships and youth entrepreneurship outcomes. Some of the targeted sectors are Dairy Farmer/Entrepreneur, Green Hydrogen Plant Entrepreneur, Handloom Entrepreneur, Processed Food Entrepreneur, Street Food Vendor, Fair Price Shops, Rooftop Solar, empowerment of transgender community etc. In this context, the specific interventions and convergence measures include- I. Promotion of credit and market linkages and handholding and mentoring support ensuring training leads to tangible enterprise outcomes. II. Encouragement of formalization including enterprise registration and digital adoption. III. Prioritization of high employment and local potential sectors such as agro processing and food value chains; handloom, handicrafts and traditional industries; tourism and hospitality; solar entrepreneurship etc. IV. Development of sector aligned skilling and entrepreneurship programmes. V. Strengthened convergence with National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) under Ministry of Rural Development. VI. Further, the Ministry participated in the second edition of the Startup Mahakumbh held in April 2025 ensuring that India’s startup ecosystem benefits from both entrepreneurship policy support and skill development making Startup Mahakumbh a more holistic platform for startups, innovators and youth participants. In addition, there are various schemes/ programmes being implemented by Ministries/ Departments of Government of India with the objective of promoting and supporting entrepreneurs. The details of various Government programmes promoting entrepreneurship development are placed at Annexure-IV.Annexure-I ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (A) AND (B) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5771 FOR ANSWER ON 30.03.2026. The details of various entrepreneurship initiatives funded under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 as special projects are as under: 1. Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM JANMAN) – MSDE, through NIESBUD and IIE, is implementing the skilling and entrepreneurship component of Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyaan (PM JANMAN) – a scheme of Ministry of Tribal Affairs for upliftment of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), since March 2024. The scheme focuses on 11 critical interventions related to 9 key Ministries including MSDE. One of the key interventions of the Ministry is facilitating skill and entrepreneurship developments in Van Dhan Vikas Kendras (VDVKs). The project is being implemented with support of Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) in 15 States across the country under which a total of 500 VDVKs are to be set up. As on 25.03.2026, a total of 38,386 beneficiaries have been provided with structured entrepreneurship support and a total of 489 VDVKs have been operationalized. 2. Capacity Building Programme for Fair Price Shop Owners – MSDE, in collaboration with the Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD), Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, has undertaken a Capacity Building Programme for Fair Price Shop (FPS) Owners. The project is aimed at enabling the FPS owners to run their businesses in consonance with the contemporary practices being adopted by Retail Entrepreneurs. As on 25.03.2026, 315 FPS owners have been been provided with structured entrepreneurship support under this programme, resulting in conversion of 91 Fair Price Shops to Jan Poshan KendrasANNEXURE-II ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (A) AND (B) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5771 FOR ANSWER ON 30.03.2026. The details of various initiatives being implemented by MSDE for promotion of entrepreneurship in the country are as under: 1. Swavalambini programme: MSDE in collaboration with the Women Entrepreneurship Platform of NITI Aayog, launched the Swavalambini- a Women Entrepreneurship Programme in February 2025 in the North- Eastern States of Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana. The programme aims to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset among female students through Entrepreneurship Awareness Training (EAP) for 1,200 students, and out of these students providing Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) for 600 students. NIESBUD and IIE are the implementing agencies for the program. Furthermore, Swavalambini aims to recognise and reward successful women entrepreneurs emerging from the programme through the Award to Rewards Initiative of Women Entrepreneurship Platform of NITI AAYOG. The programme will leverage workshops, seed funding, and structured mentoring to support the growth of women-led enterprises. As on 25.03.2026, a total of 559 candidates have been provided with Entrepreneurship Development programme. The programme has resulted in creation of 11 enterprises. 2. PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana Entrepreneurship Skill Development Programme - NIESBUD under MSDE in collaboration with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is organizing Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDPs) on Solar Entrepreneurship under the flagship initiative, PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana. This programme aims to promote rooftop solar adoption, empower entrepreneurs, and create sustainable livelihood opportunities by fostering and mentoring budding and existing entrepreneurs in the field of solar entrepreneurship. As on 15.03.2026, a total of 30,928 beneficiaries have been imparted training under the initiative, out of which 4,225 are women and 6144 enterprises have been established.. 3. Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA) - DAJGUA is a scheme of Ministry of Tribal Affairs wherein the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has been assigned two specific interventions of establishing Skilling Centres in 30 tribal districts and providing training for capacity building and business development of 1000 VDVKs and tribal groups. As on 15.03.2026, a total of 12,746 beneficiaries have been provided with structured entrepreneurship support under the initiative. 4. Establish, Develop and Manage Entrepreneurship Development Centres (EDC) and Incubation Centers (IC) in North East Region’s Educational Institution - Under this Project, IIE is mandated to Establish, Develop and Manage EDC and Incubation Centers (ICs) in North East Region’s Educational Institutions. The key features of the project include establishing, developing and managing 30 EDCs and 4 ICs in 8 states of NER, identifying and training 600 mentors from 30 target districts, identifying and training 3600 youth from 30 target districts, incubating 100 business ideas in 4 ICs, supporting 900 business ideas in 30 EDCs through convergence and Seed fund for top 50 incubates in 4 ICs. As on 15.03.2026, 30 EDCs are fully functional across all 8 North Eastern states and trained 677 mentors. 943 participants have been trained under EDP and 150 entrepreneurs have been selected for incubation. 5. Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) for Transgender Persons – EDP for transgender programme is being implemented by NIESBUD under the SMILE (Welfare of Transgender Persons) Scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The programme focuses on skill development, enterprise creation, and financial empowerment of transgender beneficiaries, while ensuring compliance with scheme guidelines, outcome assessment, and performance reporting requirements. As per the programme status data, multiple EDP batches have been conducted across locations such as Delhi and Mumbai. Till 15.03.2026, NIESBUD has conducted 5 programmes in which around 125 transgender participants have participated. Approximately 20% of the trained candidates have established their enterprises and have participated in various exhibitions with the support of the Institute, such as the International Trade Fair and Surajkund Mela.ANNEXURE-III ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (A) AND (B) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5771 FOR ANSWER ON 30.03.2026. The number of youth who established enterprises and benefited from Entrepreneurship Development Programs in last 3 years is as under: Sl. Name of Project No. of Benefited from No. Enterprise Entrepreneurship Created Development Programs Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE) 1 Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan – PM 30 1702 JANMAN 2 Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA) 6 1200 3 Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement 1361 14000 (STRIVE) Project 4 Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana – PMVDY 358 107400 (under Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Vikas Mission – PMJVM) 5 SFURTI (Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional 54 30000 Industries) 6 Formation and Promotion of Farmer Producer 13 2993 Organizations (FPOs) 7 Formation and Revival of Fish Farmer Producer 25 4661 Organizations (FFPOs) 8 Comprehensive Entrepreneurship & Skill Development 1000 10000 Training Program (CESDTP) for Tribal Artisans under SANKALP Scheme 9 ESDP Scheme under DC-MSME 76 20063 10 Startup Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) 4092 28111 Total 7015 220130* National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development 1 Strengthening Entrepreneurial Climate through Capacity 21629 62825 Building, Incubation Support, Mentoring, and Handholding under SANKALP Scheme 2 Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan 459 36684 (PMJANMAN) 3 Swavalambini Women Entrepreneurship Programme 11 302 4 Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement 1022 32091 (STRIVE) Project 5 Capacity Building Programme for Fair Price Shop Owners 91 315 6 Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA) 0 11546 7 Rastriya Udyamita Vikas Pariyojana on Pilot Basis for PM 194 1704 Svanidhi Beneficiaries 8 Entrepreneurial Climate through Training of Trainers 1463 3969 (ToTs) and Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) in Jan Shikshan Sansthans (JSSs) 9 Pilot Project on Entrepreneurship Development in Holy 747 8023 Cities 10 Organising Workshops in Artisan Melas and Haats 330 592 11 Pilot Project for Entrepreneurship Development Program 1917 5000 12 Entrepreneurship based Skill Development Program on 6144 30928 Solar Entrepreneurship PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana Total 34007 193979** * However, number of beneficiaries covered under various interventions for entrepreneurs are 2,60,142 ** However, number of beneficiaries covered under various interventions for entrepreneurs are 3,04,597.Annexure- IV ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (C) AND (D) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5771 FOR ANSWER ON 30.03.2026. The details of various other measures/schemes being implemented by the Government to support entrepreneurship are as under: 1. Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises: Ministry of MSME, through Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), is implementing the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP). Number of Microenterprises assisted across the country under PMEGP during FY 2022-23 to FY 2024-25 is given below: Financial Year No. of Units Assisted MM Subsidy (Rs. Cr) Estimated Employment Generated 2022-23 85,167 2,722.17 6,81,336 2023-24 89,118 3,093.87 7,12,944 2024-25 59,708 2,202.00 4,77,664 2. Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) - Rural Skills Division is implementing the following two welfare schemes in the field of skill development for rural poor youth for their gainful employment with a view to eradicate poverty in the country under the umbrella scheme of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM). A brief on the Schemes is as under :- A. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) is a placement-linked skill development program for rural poor youth in the age group of 15-35 years. DDU-GKY 2.0 includes provisions for self and gig employment, with training activities having commenced recently. B. Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs) is a Bank lead - Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) funded training institutions established by the Sponsoring Banks in their Districts, to provide training for skill and entrepreneurship development. Under RSETI, the number of youth trained during the 2025-26, along with the number of youths settled (established enterprises or benefited) is furnished below: Total Financial Year Trained Settled 2025-26 5.11 Lakh 3.39 Lakh (till February, 26) 3. Ministry of Textiles - Samarth (Scheme for Capacity Building in Textiles Sector) of Ministry of Textiles provides demand driven, placement-oriented skilling programmes to supplement the efforts of the industry in creating jobs in the organized textile and related sectors, covering the entire value chain of textiles, excluding Spinning and Weaving in organized sector on pan India basis. Under the Scheme, a total of 5.95 lakh beneficiaries have been trained till 05.03.2026. 4. Department For Promotion Of Industry And Internal Trade (DPIIT) – The Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) was approved for a period of four years starting from 2021-22 with a corpus of Rs. 945 crore. The Scheme is implemented from 1st April 2021 under the Startup India initiative. Under the Scheme, financial assistance is provided to eligible startups through incubators for activities such as proof of concept and validation of ideas, prototype development and product trials, product development and testing and market entry and commercialization. Funds are disbursed by incubators to startups in milestone- based installments, linked to progress in product development and readiness for market launch. Considering the milestone-based nature of disbursement and the time required by incubators and startups to utilize sanctioned funds effectively, the Scheme has recently been provided an extension to facilitate continued disbursement of committed funds and to enable incubators and startups to complete approved activities. As on 31st January 2026, 219 incubators have been selected under the Scheme and the complete corpus of Rs. 945 crore has been committed to these selected incubators and Rs. 575 crore has been disbursed to them. Further, the approved incubators have selected a total of 3,311 startups for support under the Scheme. Under the Startup India initiative, for ease of credit access, the Government is also implementing the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups (CGSS) for enabling debt funding to startups through eligible financial institutions [Member Institutions (MIs)]. CGSS is operationalized by the National Credit GuaranteeTrustee Company (NCGTC) Limited and has been operationalized from 1st April 2023. As on 31st January 2026, 348 loans amounting to Rs 925.90 crore have been guaranteed to startup borrowers under CGSS. 5. Ministry of Minority Affairs - The Ministry of Minority Affairs implements Pradhan Mantri Virasat Ka Samvardhan (PM VIKAS) Scheme as a Central Sector scheme which focuses on socio-economic empowerment of six notified minorities through skill development; entrepreneurship and leadership development of minority women; and education support for school dropouts. A target of over 3,380 women candidates has been allocated under the Women Leadership and Entrepreneurship component of the PM VIKAS scheme. 6. Department of Financial Services (DFS) under Ministry of Finance launched Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) on 08.04.2015 to extend collateral free institutional credit up to Rs.20 lakh by Member Lending Institutions (MLIs), i.e., Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs), Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs). Any individual, who is otherwise eligible to take a loan and has a business plan for small business enterprise can avail loan under the Scheme for income generating activities in the manufacturing, trading, service sectors including activities allied to agriculture across four loan categories, viz. Shishu (loans upto Rs. 50,000/-), Kishor (loans above Rs. 50,000/- and upto Rs. 5 lakh), Tarun (loans above Rs. 5 lakh and upto Rs. 10 lakh) and Tarun Plus (loans above Rs. 10 lakh and upto Rs. 20 lakh). As on 27.02.2026, a total of 57.26 crore loan accounts amounting to Rs. 39.48 lakh crore have been extended since inception of the scheme. The Scheme is presently functioning and being implemented across the country. Stand-Up India Scheme (SUI) was launched on 05.04.2016. The objective of the Scheme was to facilitate loans from Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) of value between Rs. 10 lakh and Rs.1 crore to at least one Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) borrower and one-Woman borrower per Bank branch for setting up greenfield enterprise in manufacturing, services or trading sector, including activities allied to agriculture. The Scheme was valid/operational till March 2025. The Stand Up India scheme has facilitated over 2.75 lakh loans amounting to Rs.62,790 crore to SC/ST and Women entrepreneurs across the country, as on 31.03.2025. *****