India Inc's apprenticeship participation remains limited to 30%

New Delhi: India Inc's participation in apprenticeship training remains limited, with only about 30% of establishments registered under the government's National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) actively imparting on-the-job training, government data showed.

Administrative hurdles, structural mismatches and candidate dropouts are among the factors holding back wider participation, as per industry insiders. Data from the NAPS portal shows that of the 1,98,183 establishments registered under NAPS, only 58,992 are actively imparting apprenticeship training under the scheme, creating a challenge for the government to push on-the-job training in the country to international levels. Industry executives said the delay in stipend payments from the government is impacting enrollments and prompting candidates to go for permanent jobs instead of apprenticeship training.

"Companies are creating talent for themselves but are not very keen to register under the government's apprenticeship training scheme as there are issues with direct benefit transfer of stipends to the beneficiaries, which often results in unrest at the factory," an industry executive said, requesting anonymity.


The ministry of skills development and entrepreneurship (MSDE), however, said 2026-27 is witnessing a dip in dropout rates, which is expected to push up the number of apprentices this year. MSDE administers the NAPS. In an email response to ET's query, MSDE said that while the cumulative registration figure may appear lower than the previous year's annual total, the underlying registration trend remains encouraging, with the average monthly registration during FY 2026-27 at approximately 2.72 lakh candidates, which is higher than the average monthly registration of 2.56 lakh candidates recorded during FY 2025-26.

Industry is also often apprehensive about onboarding the scheme as a large number of candidates drop out in between. "The dropout rates continue to be high while the administrative hurdles at every step prevent companies from opting for the scheme," said another executive. MSDE, however, said the average monthly completion rate has increased from 53,610 apprentices in FY 2025-26 to 68,424 apprentices in FY 2026-27, while the average monthly termination rate has declined from 36,351 apprentices to 20,507 apprentices.