The Delhi government has announced a massive plan to upgrade its Industrial Training Institutes.
New Delhi: The Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) has announced an extensive Rs170-crore initiative aimed at upgrading 15 Government Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) into advanced technology-driven Centres of Excellence (CoEs). This move has been planned in alignment with the Union Government’s Rs60,000-crore National Scheme for ITI Upgradation, ensuring both national synergy and local innovation. The declaration was made by Delhi’s Minister for Skills, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, during his address at the Regional Conference of Skill Ministers, organised in Chandigarh by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
Highlighting the vision behind the project, Sirsa said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s guiding philosophy of Skill, Scale, Speed and Samman continues to inspire us. With this initiative, Delhi’s restructured ITIs will prepare our youth with future-ready competencies, empowering them to emerge as job-creators rather than mere job-seekers. Under the able leadership of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, we are integrating global-class infrastructure with digital transparency and fast-track approvals.”
The programme will be implemented under the supervision of the Department of Training and Technical Education (DTTE), headed by Minister of Higher Education, Training & Technical Education Ashish Sood, which has been designated as the nodal agency.
Stressing the political contrast, Sirsa remarked, “Past governments deliberately held back central welfare schemes, which is why the people of Delhi removed them from power and placed their trust in the Modi Model of Governance. By weaving EV, AI, Robotics and Green Energy modules into the ITI framework, we are laying the foundation for Delhi’s youth to propel Bharat towards a future-ready economy.”
The restructured ITIs will follow a hub-and-spoke model. Under this, ITI Pusa (Central Delhi), ITI Shahdara (East Delhi), and ITI Mangolpuri (North-West Delhi) will serve as central hubs, each guiding up to four associated spoke institutes. Financial resources will be channelled through Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), which will consolidate contributions from the Centre, the Delhi Government, and industry collaborators, with disbursals tied to transparent, milestone-based targets. As part of the modernisation, ITIs will feature smart classrooms, advanced simulation laboratories, blended learning modules, and apprenticeship-linked diploma pathways, all designed to ensure students are better aligned with evolving industry needs.
Simultaneously, the Delhi Government is already in the process of setting up Centres of Excellence at ITIs in Dheerpur, Mayur Vihar, and Pusa. These centres are providing advanced skilling in areas such as Industrial Automation, Robotics, and Welding. Complementing this effort, more than 1,300 artisans have been trained under the PM Vishwakarma Yojana across Delhi’s ITIs. In addition, outreach initiatives such as the Jan Shikshan Sansthan in Jahangirpuri have benefitted over 1,000 women through doorstep-level skilling programmes. The Model Career Centre located at ITI Pusa has also emerged as a major facilitator of youth employment, having registered over 7,000 job-seekers and successfully placing 2,122 of them with reputed employers, including PVR, JBM, Tata Electronics, Lemon Tree Hotels and L&T Constructions.
Presenting the Delhi Government’s Skill Roadmap 2.0, Sirsa described the initiative as an “open-source blueprint” that any state in the country could adopt, adapt, and replicate to empower its youth. The roadmap outlines several key interventions, including apprenticeship-enabled degree programmes at Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University (DSEU) and Delhi Technological University (DTU). It also promises quarterly Apprenticeship Melas with an additional stipend of Rs1,000 for women and persons with disabilities. Further innovations include mobile skilling vans equipped with solar panel rigs and VR welding simulators under the TECOS-JSS fusion model. Every hub ITI will also host dedicated Entrepreneurship and Innovation Cells, connected with financing and entrepreneurship support schemes such as MUDRA, PMEGP and SIDBI, to promote an “Apprentice-to-Entrepreneur” journey.
Concluding his remarks, Sirsa emphasised that skill development must be regarded as the most powerful engine of national transformation, declaring, “It is the true turbo-charger for realising the vision of Viksit Bharat @2047.”
