The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship organised the Skilling for International Mobility and PM SETU programme in Guwahati on 2 November 2026 with a special focus on tourism and hospitality. The event brought together the Centre, the Assam government, industry and training bodies to expand overseas job pathways for youth from the North East. It also announced a Skill India International Centre for Assam and two industry backed ITI clusters at Jorhat and Tinsukia.
What Is the PM SETU Scheme?
The PM SETU scheme is the Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs, a central scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE). It will upgrade 1,000 government Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in hub and spoke clusters and strengthen five National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) over five years with a total outlay of ₹60,000 crore.
MSDE is the nodal ministry for the scheme. MSDE was set up as a department on 31 July 2014 and became a full ministry on 9 November 2014. It coordinates skill training across India through arms such as the Directorate General of Training (DGT), the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and sector skill councils.
The Cabinet approved PM SETU to make ITIs modern, industry led and job oriented. ITIs offer long term vocational training under the Craftsmen Training Scheme, which started in 1950. At present, more than 14,000 ITIs offer 169 trades aligned to the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF), a competency based grading system for qualifications.
Funding is shared between the Centre, states and industry. Half of the central share will be co financed through loans from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank in equal parts.
| Contributor | Share in ₹60,000 crore outlay |
|---|---|
| Central government | ₹30,000 crore |
| State governments | ₹20,000 crore |
| Industry | ₹10,000 crore |
How the Hub and Spoke Model Will Upgrade 1,000 ITIs
PM SETU has two parts. Component I will upgrade 200 hub ITIs and 800 spoke ITIs. Component II will expand capacity at five NSTIs at Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kanpur and Ludhiana and develop sector specific National Centres of Excellence for training of trainers with global partnership.
Under the hub and spoke model, one hub ITI will guide about four nearby spoke ITIs on average. Hubs will get smart classrooms, modern labs and digital learning tools. They will also get new courses shaped by local industry demand. Spokes will be linked to the hub for curriculum, trainers and placement support.
Each cluster will be managed by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) led by a credible Anchor Industry Partner, along with other industry partners if needed. The industry partner will prepare a Strategic Investment Plan that fixes targets for enrolment, placement and salaries. Funds will be released in stages based on performance.
The indicative cost is ₹81 crore for a hub ITI and ₹40 crore for a spoke ITI over five years. A typical cluster of one hub and four spokes will cost about ₹241 crore. For North Eastern and hilly states, the Centre will bear a higher share. The ratio there is 74.7 percent Centre, 8.3 percent State and 17 percent industry.
What Happened at the Guwahati Skilling Programme?
MSDE organised the programme on 2 November 2026 at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati. It was held as the Northeast Tourism and Hospitality Skill Conclave 2026. MSDE led the event with support from NSDC and the Tourism and Hospitality Skill Council (THSC).
Jayant Chaudhary, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, attended as chief guest. Biswajit Daimary, Assam Minister for Skills, Employment and Entrepreneurship, joined the event. Senior officials including Manasi Sahay Thakur, Joint Secretary in MSDE, NSDC Chief Executive Officer Arun Kumar Pillai and THSC Chief Executive Officer Rajan Bahadur also took part. Industry participants included the Taj Hotels, Radisson Hotel Group, ITC Hotels and Quess Corp.
Two major partnerships were announced. MSDE and the Assam government exchanged a memorandum of understanding to set up a Skill India International Centre (SIIC) in the state. Letters of Intent were signed for two ITI clusters under PM SETU. The Jorhat cluster will be supported by Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) and the Tinsukia cluster by Oil India Limited (OIL).
Why Tourism and Hospitality Was the Focus Sector
The Guwahati programme placed tourism and hospitality at the centre. MSDE noted strong demand for trained staff in hotels, food service, travel and facility services in India and abroad. The North East has natural sites, cultural traditions and growing visitor traffic. These strengths can create jobs if youth receive practical, employer linked training.
Discussions focused on matching courses with employer needs and global standards. The topics included service quality, language skills, safety norms and recognised certificates. Employers stressed closer ties between training institutes and hotels, tour operators and facility firms. Better industry exposure, apprenticeships and on the job training were seen as key steps to raise placement rates.
What Is the Skill India International Centre Planned for Assam?
A Skill India International Centre (SIIC) is a dedicated centre that prepares Indian candidates for jobs abroad through industry aligned training, foreign language support and globally accepted certification. The Assam centre will be set up jointly by MSDE and the Assam government to connect youth from the state and the wider North East with overseas employers.
The centre will map foreign skill demand and match training to those job roles. It will focus on employer requirements such as work standards, language ability and assessment norms. The aim is to reduce migration risks and improve earnings by ensuring candidates leave with the right skills and certificates.
SIICs work within the larger Skill India Mission, which was launched on 15 July 2015. NSDC implements much of this work on the ground. NSDC was set up on 31 July 2008 as a public private partnership, with 49 percent government share and 51 percent private share.
How Assam Is Linking Its Youth to Overseas Jobs
The Assam government presented its CM FLIGHT scheme at the conclave. CM FLIGHT stands for the Chief Minister Foreign Language Initiative for Global Human Talent. It trains youth in foreign languages, starting with Japanese, to help them qualify for jobs in countries such as Japan under the Specified Skilled Worker visa system.
The state has signed agreements with partners including Asean One Co Ltd, Jaceex Ventures and Meiko Career Partners to run Japanese language training in Guwahati and other centres. A pilot for 180 candidates is under way. The state provides ₹50,000 per candidate as post placement support and ₹1,00,000 per candidate to training partners. Assam aims to prepare up to 50,000 youth for the Japanese job market over three years.
Assam also shared its plan for a Global Skill Centre. The conclave discussed WorldSkills, the global skill competition, as another route to benchmark trainees against world standards and improve their chances abroad. Together, the SIIC, PM SETU clusters, CM FLIGHT and the proposed Global Skill Centre form a linked plan to train, certify and place youth from the North East in domestic and overseas roles.
Key Takeaways
- MSDE held the Skilling for International Mobility and PM SETU programme in Guwahati on 2 November 2026 with focus on tourism and hospitality.
- PM SETU stands for Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs and has an outlay of ₹60,000 crore to upgrade 1,000 ITIs.
- MSDE and Assam exchanged an MoU to set up a Skill India International Centre to prepare youth for overseas jobs.
- Letters of Intent were signed for Jorhat and Tinsukia ITI clusters, backed by Numaligarh Refinery Limited and Oil India Limited respectively.
- Assam presented its CM FLIGHT foreign language initiative to train youth for jobs in Japan under the Specified Skilled Worker visa route.
