Bhubaneswar, Oct 17: Five government Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in Odisha will be upgraded under the Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs (PM-SETU) scheme, with an investment of ₹240.5 crore.

The funds will be utilised to upgrade Government ITI Cuttack, Madhusudan Government ITI at Choudwar, and government ITIs in Paradip, Jajpur and Dhenkanal.

Under the approved plan, Government ITI Cuttack will serve as the hub institution, while the other four ITIs will function as spoke centres. The initiative aims to strengthen technical training infrastructure and improve skill development opportunities for students.

The decision was taken at the sixth National Steering Committee meeting of the PM-SETU programme. The project will be implemented in partnership with the Tata Steel Foundation.

During the meeting, five strategic investment plans worth ₹1,194.92 crore were approved for ITI clusters in Odisha, Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir.

With these approvals, the total investment sanctioned under PM-SETU has reached ₹3,687 crore. The investment plans will be implemented through partnerships among state governments, industry partners and participating ITIs.

The initiative is expected to strengthen vocational education, modernise training facilities and improve industry-oriented skill development across the participating institutions.