The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi today has accorded its approval for stipendiary support of ₹ 3,054 crore to apprentices who undergo apprenticeship training under National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS) of Ministry of Education for the period from 2021-22 to 2025-26 (upto 31-03-2026).

Approximately 9 lakhs apprentices will be trained by industry and commercial organisations. NATS is a well-established scheme of Government of India which has demonstrated to enhance the employability of students who have successfully completed the apprenticeship training.

The apprentices who have completed graduate and diploma programme in Engineering, Humanities, Science and Commerce will be given stipend of ₹ 9,000/- and ₹ 8,000/- per month respectively.

The Government has approved an expenditure of more than ₹ 3,000 crore during the next five years which is about 4.5 times the expenditure made during the previous 5 years. This increased expenditure on apprenticeship is in line with the thrust which National Education Policy 2020 has given to apprenticeship.

In keeping with the Government emphasis on "SabkaSaath, SabkaVikas, --SabkaVishwas, SabkaPrayaas", the scope of NATS has further been expanded to include students from Humanities, Science and Commerce besides students from engineering stream. This scheme aims to raise the standards of skill level by strengthening the skill ecosystem and as a result, will provide employment to approximately 7 lakhs youths in the next five years.

The NATS will provide apprenticeship in the emerging areas under 'Production Linked Incentive' (PLI) such as Mobile manufacturing, Medical devices manufacturing, Pharma sector, Electronics/Technology products, Automobile sector etc. The scheme will also be preparing skilled manpower for connectivity/logistics industry sectors, identified under Gati Shakti.

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Stipendiary support for apprenticeship extended to expand eligibility and train industry apprentices, boosting sectoral skill development. Approval continues the National Apprenticeship Training Scheme for five years with centrally funded stipendiary support for apprentices across engineering, humanities, science and commerce, establishing fixed stipend rates, training approximately nine lakh apprentices through industry and aiming to provide employment to about seven lakh youths while expanding scope into PLI and Gati Shakti sectors aligned with National Education Policy objectives.