**Executive Summary**
The Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship responded to questions regarding the status of the five National Centers of Excellence (NCoE) for skilling announced in the Budget 2025-26. The Cabinet approved the NCoEs on 07.05.2025. The NSTIs will be set up at five locations across India, and partnerships and program implementation are in progress.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Establishment of National Centers of Excellence (NCoE):**
* Five NCoEs for skilling, proposed in the Budget 2025-26, have been approved by the Cabinet on 07.05.2025 under Component II of the Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability through Upgraded ITIs (PM-SETU) scheme.
* The NCoEs will be sector-specific and have global partnerships.
* **Location of NCoEs:**
* The five NCoEs will be set up at:
* Bhubaneswar (Odisha)
* Chennai (Tamil Nadu)
* Hyderabad (Telangana)
* Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh)
* Ludhiana (Punjab).
* NSTIs were selected based on land area, trade diversity, sitting capacity, scope for expansion, and faculty availability.
* **Partnerships and Implementation:**
* Scheme guidelines have been approved by the National Steering Committee.
* An MoU has been signed with Singapore for setting up an NCoE at National Skill Training Institute (NSTI), Chennai, focusing on Advanced Manufacturing.
* Expression of Interest (Eol) has been floated for onboarding of Lead Industry Partners for the five NSTIs.
* **Institute Management Committee (IMC):**
* The Institute Management Committee (IMC) will be formed for each selected NSTI, with the chairperson from the Lead Industry Partner.
* The IMC will plan and implement training programs based on industry needs.
* **Flexibility for States under PM-SETU:**
* Under Component-I of the PM-SETU scheme, states can propose skill interventions tailored to local needs.
* States can propose specialized skill centers in areas like agriculture, food processing, and dairy.
* This includes regions such as Seemanchal - Kosi region of Bihar, as per scheme guidelines.
**Impact Analysis**
**Stakeholder: Lead Industry Partners**
* **Impact**: Will chair the IMC for the selected NSTIs.
* **Action Required**: Need to actively participate in planning and implementing industry-relevant training programs.
**Stakeholder: State Governments**
* **Impact**: States can propose skill interventions suited to local needs under Component-I of the PM-SETU scheme.
* **Action Required**: Can propose specialized skill centers in areas like agriculture, food processing, and dairy, as per the scheme guidelines.
**Stakeholder: National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs)**
* **Impact**: NSTIs at Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kanpur, and Ludhiana will be upgraded to NCoEs.
* **Action Required**: To collaborate with the IMC and Lead Industry Partner to implement training programs based on industry needs.
Key Entities Referenced
National Centres of Excellence (NCoE): Five skilling centres announced in the Budget 2025-26 at Serial No. 44 and approved by the Cabinet.
Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability through Upgraded ITIs (PM-SETU) scheme: Scheme under which the National Centres of Excellence are being established.
National Skill Training Institute (NSTI): Locations for establishing the National Centres of Excellence.
Institute Management Committee (IMC): Committee to be constituted with the chairperson from the Lead Industry Partner for the selected NSTIs to plan & implement the training programs.
Bihar: State where there is provision or possibility of setting up of special skill centre conforming the local needs like agricultural, food processing, dairy, flood control technique in Seemanchal-Kosi region.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION: 2467
ANSWERED ON 15.12.2025
SETTING UP FIVE NATIONAL CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE
†2467. SHRI KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR:
SHRI DINESH CHANDRA YADAV:
SHRI GIRIDHARI YADAV:
SHRI RAJESH RANJAN:
Will the Minister of SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP be pleased to state:
(a) the present status of the five National Centres of Excellence (NCoE) for skilling that have been
proposed in the Budget 2025-26 at Serial No. 44;
(b) the level at which action has been completed by the Government for setting up of the above
centres;
(c) the names of the places where the above five National Centres of Excellence for skilling are being
setup and whether regional balance has been considered for their selection;
(d) the complete details of the composition, training model and industry participation of the above
centres; and
(e) whether the Government has provided option to the States for Setting up of “Satellite Skill Centre”
under which there is any provision or possibility of setting up of special skill centre conforming the local
needs like agricultural, food processing, dairy, flood control technique in Seemanchal-Kosi region of Bihar?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) IN THE MINISTRY OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT
AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
(SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)
(a) & (c): The five National Centres of Excellence (NCoE) for skilling that were announced in the Budget
2025-26 at Serial No. 44 have been approved by the Cabinet on 07.05.2025 under Component II of the
Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability through Upgraded ITIs (PM-SETU) scheme. As per the Cabinet
approval, the sector-specific National Centres of Excellence with global partnership are proposed to be
set up at Bhubaneswar(Odisha), Chennai(Tamilnadu), Hyderabad(Telangana), Kanpur(Uttar Pradesh),
and Ludhiana(Punjab). These NSTIs were selected based on the parameters like land area of the institute,
trade diversity, existing sitting capacity, scope for expansion and availability of faculty.
(b) The guidelines of scheme have been approved by the National Steering Committee and the MoU
has been signed with Singapore for setting up of NCoE at National Skill Training Institute (NSTI), Chennai
in Advanced Manufacturing Sector. The Expression of Interest (EoI) has been floated for the onboarding
of Lead Industry Partner for these five NSTIs.
(d) The Institute Management Committee (IMC) to be constituted with the chairperson from the Lead
Industry Partner for the selected NSTIs. The proposed composition of IMC as per the approved scheme
guidelines is placed at Annexure.
Further, the IMC to plan & implement the training programs as per the need of the industry through these
NSTIs
(e) Under the Component- I of PM-SETU scheme, 1,000 Government ITIs are proposed to be upgraded
under the Hub-and-Spoke model in collaboration with Industry Partners. States have the flexibility to
propose skill interventions suited to local needs under this framework. Therefore, States may propose
specialised skill centres in areas such as agriculture, food processing, dairy or any local requirement,
including regions such as Seemanchal - Kosi region of Bihar, as per the scheme guidelines.Annexure
ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (d) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED
QUESTION NO. 2467 ANSWERED ON 15.12.2025
Proposed composition of Institute Management Committee
S. Category Details
No.
1 Chairperson N ominated by the Lead Industry Partner
2 Two or more Central To be nominated by DGT/MSDE.
Government Nominees
3 One or more State Representative from the State Government where the NSTI is
Government Nominee l ocated.
4 Two or more Industry persons Representatives from industry partners having special
with relevant technical knowledge and experience on matters relating to Industry and
expertise Technical Education and providing financial contribution to the
s cheme
5 Director of the Institute Ex-officio Member Secretary of the Governing Body
6 One or more representatives From eminent industry associations like FICCI, CII, or state-level
from Industry Associations bodies, Sector Skill Councils, etc. or regional local industry
a ssociations.
7 One or more Academia Representative from the academic field
Representative(s)
These numbers are indicative and may vary between 9 to 15 members, depending on the specific
requirements of each NSTI.
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