The government has approved Rs 4.36 billion for a skills development programme. The investment will be undertaken over the span of next three years.

Under the project, named Programme for Reskilling/ Upskilling of IT Manpower for Employability (PRIME), government plans to train around 400,000 professionals in the latest technologies like internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and NASSCOM will be working together to train the professionals.

PRIME will offer diagnostics for learner preference and skill gaps leading to identification of relevant courses. Further, it will help building digital fluencies in emerging technologies, offer online upskilling in identified skill competencies.

Under the program, each learner will get a skills passport where competencies acquired by the learner will get accumulated, which will also provide the opportunity to get up to Rs 12,000 from the government as an incentive upon certification.

While many content of the courses will be free, some of the courses will have nominal fee ranging from around Rs 10,000 to Rs 60,000. The duration of the course may also range from hours to six months and more.