Union Budget 2025: Five CoEs To Be Set Up For Skilling Country’s Youth

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that the government will set up five Centres of Excellence (CoEs) for skilling the country’s youth.

In her Budget 2025 speech, FM Sitharaman said, “Building on the July Budget for 2024, the Centre will establish five new NCE (National Centre of Excellence) centres for skill development.”

Under the initiative, the government will collaborate with global experts and design a curriculum framework to equip the youth of India with the right skill sets in the manufacturing domain.

The government will provide certifications, and periodic reviews will be held to improve the skills of trainees and trainers.

The CoE is a body recognised by the skill development & entrepreneurship ministry for promoting leadership, best practices, research, support, training of trainers and skill training in specific sectors.

According to the national policy for skill development & entrepreneurship, 2015, the government aims to promote institutes and universities in partnership with state governments for skill development in the country. It was established to bridge the gap between the needs of the labour market and the mismatch in skills of people.

Skill development was among the key focus areas in the FM’s budget speech. She said that the Centre will also set up a CoE for artificial intelligence in education with a total outlay of INR 500 Cr. Earlier in 2023, the Centre announced setting up three CoEs for artificial intelligence in the field of agriculture, health and sustainable cities.

In order to boost manufacturing in the country, the FM said that a National Manufacturing Mission would be set up, covering small, medium and large industries, to boost ‘Make In India’.

For startups, the FM announced setting up another fund of funds with an outlay of INR 10,000 Cr