The government is making its best efforts to salvage the PM Internship Scheme (PMIS) which has met with a lukewarm response so far. The ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) has set a target of 700,000 for intern intake by India Inc in the current financial year. This is nearly six times the goal for FY25, when the pilot for the flagship scheme was launched.
The ambition has been scaled up even though not even half of the 125,000 internship opportunities envisaged under the scheme for FY25 might actually have been created. To achieve the target in FY26, the MCA is looking at various proposals, including giving an option to companies to hire candidates throughout the year. Currently, companies can hire interns in phases staggered over a year, and only when the government tells them to. The government’s optimism also stems from a large pool of candidates who have applied for the unique skillling opportunity. Besides, the scheme has been tweaked to allow candidates to opt for companies and units closer to their domiciles.
“We have a base of over 600,000 registered candidates on the dedicated portal. There’s a proposal to enable companies to hire these candidates as and when there’s a need,” an official said.
MCA had earlier made a series of modifications in the scheme to increase the uptake, including geo-tagging opportunities and streamlining eligibility norms. The ministry identified the unwillingness of many candidates to relocate to other regions due to the “low stipend”. But with geo-tagging, candidates can now apply for internship opportunities closer to their residences.
In the first round of the pilot project, just about 8,000 candidates joined companies for internship. The second round (for FY25) has still not concluded, with companies currently shortlisting candidates. Though the internship numbers may have improved in the second round, the total intake might fall significantly short of the target of 125,000, sources said.
“The recruitment drive is under progress. A total of 118,000 opportunities have been offered by companies in the second round. We are expecting that the final intake to be around 50% of that. We are hopeful that the numbers will improve in the current financial year,” said the official.
The PMIS is the result of a recognised need to equip the country’s youth with the skills necessary to excel in the fast-paced economy. The ambitious initiative is aimed at “providing 10 million young individuals with valuable internship opportunities over the next five years, allowing them to immerse themselves in diverse business environments and explore a variety of professions.”
According to experts, the initial pilot project of PMIS has revealed critical issues that require fixing if the government intends to meet the target in FY26. “The key hurdles of the scheme include mismatch of roles offered versus candidate expectations, and location constraints. As we enter into the next phase, a few structural and policy changes are required,” Nipun Sharma, CEO at TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship, said. According to Sharma, the government may need to look at integrating internships as part of the undergraduate programmes under the new National Education Policy (NEP) and expanding the scheme beyond the top 500 corporates to include all companies under the corporate social responsibility (CSR) ambit.
In the first round of the pilot project, launched in December 2024, more than 127,000 internship opportunities were provided by partner companies across the country. Against these, over 621,000 applications were received by the MCA, and companies made 82,077 internship offers to 60,866 candidates. But only 28,141 candidates finally accepted the offers.
Due to the weaker-than-expected response, the government had to extend the registration deadlines a few times in the pilot phase.
Under the scheme, an intern is provided Rs 5,000 per month in addition to a one-time allowance of Rs 6,000. The Budget outlay for the scheme for FY26 is Rs 10,831 crore.
