10 years of Skill India Mission: Ministry launches new initiatives for education and upskilling

Skill India Mission celebrated 10 years at the ‘BharatSkillNxt 2025’ event held at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. Jayant Chaudhary, Minister of State (independent charge), MSDE, and Minister of State for education, Government of India, led the event. He highlighted the mission’s past achievements as well as a future roadmap for upskilling.

The ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship (MSDE) launched ‘IndiaSkills 2025-2026’, which will serve as a national registration window to people who wish to represent India in global skill competitions.

MSDE also launched the Skilling for AI Readiness (SOAR) initiative for AI literacy among students of Classes 6-12. It will also include a module for teachers, titled ‘AI for Educators’. The programme aims to teach concepts like AI basics, generative AI, AI in daily life, programming fundamentals, ethics, and cybersecurity.

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Skill India: Partnerships

Under the Skill India Mission, several agreements have been signed with educational institutions and industry partners, including Apollo MedSkills, SLN Technology, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Patna, and NIT Agartala. MSDE has also signed an agreement with the French government to promote skill-based learning.

Chaudhary introduced the Skill Impact Bond (SIB) under the Skill India Mission. It is India’s first “outcome-based development impact bond for skilling and employment”. So far, SIB has mobilised USD 14.4 million.

As per the MSDE press statement, the National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET) has activated its digital enterprise portal (DEP), named ‘KaushalVerse’, to ensure efficient delivery of services for upskilling. NCVET has also launched the “Revised Comprehensive Guidelines for the Recognition and Regulation of Assessment Agencies – 2025” and ‘‘Guidelines for the Recognition and Regulation of Awarding Bodies” to align with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

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Skill India Mission: Initiatives

MSDE also restructured the Apprenticeship Training (AT) Portal, and oversaw the launch of two books - “Transforming Skill Development through Decentralized Planning”, developed under the SANKALP programme, and a “60-hour Employability Skills Handbook” for the Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) clientele.

“Whether it’s veterans retraining, rural women discovering entrepreneurship, or young students embracing AI, every story reaffirms that India’s future lies in recognising talent, restoring dignity to work, and creating opportunity through skill. As we move towards ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’, it is clear that India will not become a developed nation by chance - but by design,” said Chaudhary.

The MSDE event was attended by Ambika G L Valmiki, MP, Andhra Pradesh, Vikramjit Singh Sahney, Rajya Sabha MP, Punjab, and Rajit Punhani, secretary, MSDE.