The much awaited PM Internship Scheme that aims to provide internship opportunities to one crore youth in 500 top CSR spend companies in the next five years will go live on Thursday.
To be launched by the Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, this scheme is focused on enhancing the employability of India’s youth.
The internship initiative was announced in this year’s budget (July 23) as part of Modi 3.0 government’s ₹ 2 lakh crore ($ 24 billion) spending plan for job creation and skilling for 4.1 crore youth in the next five years.
The PM Internship Scheme is part of the Prime Minister’s package of five schemes and initiatives to be rolled out to facilitate employment, skilling and other opportunities for youth.
The Scheme, which is being administered by the Corporate Affairs Ministry(MCA), will have an internship duration of one year and would be open to Candidates between 21 and 24 years old, not engaged in full-time employment. Those who are class 10 pass and above can take part in this internship.
However, individuals from families with government jobs are excluded, sources said. Candidate who graduated from IIT, IIM, IISER, and the ones who have CA, CMA qualifications would not be eligible for internship. Also any member of the family that is assessed to Income Tax will not be eligible for the PM Internship Scheme, sources said.
The 500 companies have been identified by ranking of top CSR spend in the last three financial years. It is a voluntary scheme for corporate.
TWO PHASES
The PM Internship scheme is structured in two phases. In the first phase, the target is to skill 30 lakh youth over a period of 2 years. The second phase aims to skill an additional 70 lakh youth over the following 3 years, sources said.
The scheme involves a monthly stipend of ₹4,500 from the central government via DBT (Direct Benefit transfer), with an additional ₹500 offset provided by the company’s CSR fund.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is acting as a critical facilitator between the government and the industry, ensuring the scheme’s effective rollout. The MCA has set up a dedicated, user-centric portal for the scheme, which will serve as a centralised hub and a link between the companies and the aspiring interns, allowing smooth navigation of the scheme’s application and participation processes.
This portal will go live on Thursday paving the way for onboarding 500 identified companies initially. By the middle of this month, the portal would be opened up for aspiring interns to get themselves registered in the portal and seek internship opportunities, sources said.
Sanjiv Puri, President, CII and Chairman & Managing Director, ITC Limited, said “The Prime Minister’s Internship Scheme is a visionary initiative that will contribute significantly to India’s goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047. With internships for one crore youth across sectors including Manufacturing and services, this scheme will cultivate a skilled workforce ready to take on future challenges”.
Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII said “With industries grappling with a growing talent shortage, the PM Internship Scheme provides a crucial bridge. By offering on-the-job training to youth, it will prepare them to meet the evolving Industry demands, while ensuring that businesses get access to a skilled and agile future workforce, fostering progress and innovation,”
The PM Internship Scheme will enhance youth employability in India by offering them hands-on exposure to real-world business environments. The scheme will also benefit the Industry by creating a pipeline of skilled, work-ready youth who can be employed post-internship both in large as well as micro, small and medium enterprise.