Skill development ministry launches new framework to fast-track approvals for centres of excellence

New Delhi: The skill development and entrepreneurship ministry has launched a national empanelment framework to streamline the setting up of centres of excellence, with provisions for a green channel for established centres. The move is aimed at fast-tracking approvals for such facilities while ensuring that only credible and outcome-oriented institutions receive government recognition.

Under the new framework, centres will be judged on common as well as sector-specific requirements relating to infrastructure, trainers and assessors, assessment capability, industry linkages, governance and performance, said a senior government official.

The empanelment will be valid for a three-year period and can be extended by two years if the centre meets its training goals. The application process is now nomination-based. Institutes applying to become centres of excellence will be assessed at three levels: desk-level scrutiny, physical verification of the centre and final approval from the executive committee.

However, under the green channel mechanism, eligible institutions need to submit only basic information, including the training centre's name, operating entity, address, contact details, sectors of specialisation and seating capacity. Such institutions, although nominated, will not have to undergo the regular evaluation process and will instead be fast-tracked for immediate evaluation.

The green channel is applicable to the existing Institutes of National Importance, ITIs upgraded under PM-SETU and Skilling Centres of Excellence operated or empanelled by central ministries or departments and state governments. The centres of excellence will also support measurable post-training outcomes, mentorship, career coaching, credible assessment and continued tracking of candidates, the official added.

Under the existing framework, which has been in force since 2021, the centres of excellence were specialised institutions imparting skills training related to the schemes concerned, while the new framework makes empanelment scheme-agnostic. According to the official, a key change is that empanelment is separate from scheme-specific target allocation, and empanelment itself does not guarantee the allocation of training targets, which will continue to be governed by the respective scheme guidelines.

The government expects the new framework to create a stable pool of credible, permanent and industry-aligned training institutions that can be leveraged across skilling programmes, enable better utilisation of existing infrastructure and institutional capacity, improve the quality and consistency of training and assessment, and strengthen post-training outcomes.