The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee has made a provision of an additional Rs. 500 crore to the National Skill Development Fund during the ensuing financial year.

Presenting the Union Budget 2011-12 in the Lok Sabha today, Shri Mukherjee said that the National Skill Development Council (NSDC) is well on course to achieve its mandate of creation of 15 crore skilled workforce two years ahead of 2022, the stipulated target year. The Finance Minister said that the council has already sanctioned 26 projects with a total funding of Rs. 658 crore. These projects alone are expected to create more than four crore skilled workforce over the next ten years. The Minister also informed that the skill training has so far been provided to 20,000 persons during the current year and 75 per cent of these have found placements.

National Skill Development Fund allocation to expand vocational training capacity and support placement-linked workforce targets. Provision in the Union Budget allocates additional resources to the National Skill Development Fund to support the National Skill Development Council's mandate to expand the skilled workforce ahead of the stipulated target year, noting sanctioned projects with aggregate funding intended to generate millions of skilled workers and current training delivering a high placement rate.