Internship target up nearly 6 times
India Sets Ambitious Target of 700,000 Internships Under PM Internship Scheme Despite Lukewarm Pilot Response
In a bold move to tackle youth unemployment and skill gaps, the Indian government has announced an ambitious goal of facilitating 700,000 internships under the Prime Minister’s Internship Scheme (PMIS) for the fiscal year 2025–26 (FY26). This marks a sixfold increase from the FY25 target, despite the scheme’s pilot phase drawing a tepid response from both candidates and companies.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), which is spearheading the initiative, is determined to revamp and expand the scheme to meet this heightened target. The FY26 budget outlay stands at Rs 10,831 crore, indicating the government’s strong commitment to this flagship youth skilling program.
Challenges in the Pilot Phase
Launched in December 2024, the pilot phase aimed to create 125,000 internship opportunities. However, actual participation fell short. Despite receiving over 621,000 applications, only 28,141 candidates eventually joined internships. Factors like low stipends (Rs 5,000 per month + Rs 6,000 one-time allowance), relocation challenges, and a mismatch between roles and candidate expectations significantly affected uptake.
To boost participation, MCA extended registration deadlines multiple times and implemented tweaks such as:
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Geo-tagging of opportunities to help candidates find internships near their residence.
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Streamlining eligibility norms to include a wider candidate pool.
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Encouraging year-round recruitment instead of government-directed phased hiring.
Structural Reforms and Way Forward
To support the scaled-up target for FY26, the government is considering a number of policy enhancements, such as:
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Allowing companies to hire interns throughout the year based on need.
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Expanding the scheme’s scope beyond the top 500 corporates to include all companies under CSR mandates.
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Potentially integrating internships into undergraduate programs under the National Education Policy (NEP).
According to Nipun Sharma, CEO of TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship, structural challenges must be addressed if the scheme is to succeed at scale. “The key hurdles include mismatch of roles offered versus candidate expectations, and location constraints,” Sharma noted.
A Pool of Opportunity and Optimism
Despite early setbacks, government officials remain optimistic. A senior MCA official said, “We have a base of over 600,000 registered candidates on the portal. With continuous improvements and flexibility in hiring, we expect significant growth in actual intern intake.”
In the second round of the pilot, 118,000 internship opportunities were offered, and the final intake is expected to reach around 50% of that. Officials are hopeful that this upward trend will continue in FY26.
A Step Toward the 10 Million Goal
The PMIS forms part of the broader vision to offer 10 million internships over the next five years, preparing India’s youth for diverse career paths across industry sectors.
If successful, this initiative could become one of the largest internship programs globally—serving as a transformative bridge between academia and industry.
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