Policy update R.Tejaswini
BACKGROUND
The Indian textile sector is one of the largest employment generators after agriculture, providing direct employment to over 45 million people ( as per Ministry of Textiles data). This scale of employment positions the textile industry at the intersection of agrarian transition and industrial development, making it significant for economic growth and social stability.
The Samarth scheme is a continuation of the Integrated Skill Development Scheme implemented during the 12th Five Year Plan. Before the Samarth scheme, India lacked a comprehensive, demand-driven skill development initiative in the textile sector. As a result, the Samarth scheme was launched by the Ministry of Textiles for the period 2017-18 to 2019-2020 with an initial outlay of ₹1300 crores.
Officially known as Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector (SCBTS), it focuses on equipping the youth with industry relevant skills for gainful and sustainable employment.This scheme addresses systemic skill gaps to supplement the efforts of the textile industry in strengthening post-placement retention rates. It also targets skill development for most sectors of the textile industry except spinning and weaving. The scheme has been extended twice; the initial phase was extended up to 2024 and the subsequent extension until 2026. The 2026 Union Budget announced SAMARTH 2.0, as a part of the Integrated Programme for the textile sector. SAMARTH 2.0 aims at deeper collaboration with industry and academic institutions to modernise the skills in this sector and to ensure the availability of skill equipped manpower across the value chain.
Source: Official Memorandum On Stakeholder Meeting On Samarth Scheme, Ministry Of Textiles 2018.
OBJECTIVES
It aims to provide a demand-driven, placement-oriented National Skills Qualifications Framework-compliant skill development programme to bolster and reinforce the efforts of the textile sector in creating jobs across the value chain of the textile sector excluding spinning and weaving. The scheme enhances traditional sectors of handlooms, handicrafts, sericulture and jute by promoting skilling and skill upgradation in these sectors. It facilitates sustainable livelihood through both wage and self employment for all sections of the society, across the nation. It targets to train 10 lakh people, 9 lakh in the organised sector and 1 lakh in the traditional sector.
FUNCTIONING
- The SAMARTH scheme operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Textiles. It operates through a multi-layered management structure, as follows:
- The Inter Ministerial Committee is headed by the Ministry of Textiles, which oversees the programmes and monitors progress every 6 months.
- The Empowered Committee is headed by the Secretary of Textiles. It facilitates implementation by approving project reports and setting standard operating procedures.
- Resource Support Agency functions are performed by the Textiles Committee, which is responsible for course standardisation, certifying trainers and empanelling assessment agencies.
- The Project Management Unit is appointed through a transparent bidding process, which provides day-to-day assistance to the Samarth division.
IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK
A network of accredited Implementing Agencies ranging from reputed institutions to NGOs, implemented the skill development programme. This empanelment of Implementation Agencies (IA) depends on its credentials, financial strength and training infrastructure.
TRAINING STANDARDS
Training standards are maintained by RSA, by aligning all curricula with NSQF standards. To prevent ghost training, the scheme requires real-time Aadhar Enabled Biometric Attendance, CCTV monitoring and industry-standard machinery. Its comprehensive curriculum combines technical expertise and soft skills to ensure that trainees are prepared for their jobs.
The policy not only focuses on enrollment but also on employment, by requiring a minimum of 70% placement. To ensure sustainable employment, IA tracks trainees’ pay and progress for one year after placement. It uses a web-based Management Information System (MIS) and geo-tagged apps to handle every aspect of the scheme.
To ensure effective performance, funding to IA is released in 3 stages, first 30% is released on commencement of training, 50% once students are placed in jobs and final 20% only if the trainees stay employed for at least 3 months.
PERFORMANCE
The Samarth Scheme gained significant momentum in 2026, as the Union Budget allocated an outlay of ₹1500 crore to the Integrated Programme for Textile Sector, under which SAMARTH 2.0 is a component. This allotment reinforced the policy’s ambitious goal with the availability of fiscal resources to accelerate skill development all over the nation. As of February 2026, the Samarth scheme’s Dashboard indicates that the scheme has trained over 6,00,000 individuals across 4,270 active centres. This represents a significant expansion compared to the 2023 data, revealing that the scheme has trained 1,83,844 individuals across 1880 centres. Of the total beneficiaries, 88.53% beneficiaries are women, 27.57% SC and 13.5% ST, aligning with sustainable livelihood goals and committing to social equity. The scheme mandates a 70% placement rate which has facilitated formal employment for 4,49,235 individuals through both wage based employment and self-employment. The scheme’s expenditure increased from ₹23.27 crore in 2023 to ₹153.70 crore in 2024, marking a transition from post pandemic situation to full scale implementation. This expenditure surge highlights the performance linked funding model, where the scheme allots further capital to IA, only if 70% placement mandate is met. The 2024-25 Parliamentary Committee Report stressed that most of the funds were disbursed only at the end of the year to coincide with completion of training, which disturbed fund utilisation. Therefore, the committee suggested starting training batches earlier in the year for smooth fund utilisation. The Budget Estimate of the scheme was ₹166 crore in 2024-25 but only ₹153.70 crore was spent. The shortfall in expenditure relative to the Budget Estimate is because funds are released in 3 installments which are performance linked. Moreover the Committee’s recommendation of continuation of scheme beyond 2025-26 with restructuring signaled a shift towards SAMARTH 2.0 focusing on modernising the skill system necessitated by the global industry’s move toward advanced manufacturing and technical textiles.
Source: Standing Committee On Labour, Textiles And Skill Development, Ministry Of Textiles, Government of India- Fifth Report (2024-2025)
IMPACT
Since the launch of the Samarth scheme, it has facilitated wage and self employment opportunities to 4,49,236 individuals, highlighting the movement of workers from the informal to the formal sector. The scheme has contributed to reducing the skill gap in India’s textile sector by providing both entry-level and upskilling training programmes. These training programmes also include modern techniques and skill refinement, consequently enhancing productivity and quality in the textile industry. One of the social contributions of the scheme is ensuring inclusivity in this sector, as 88.53% of the beneficiaries are women. This may contribute to improving the Female Labour Force Participation Rate particularly, in rural and semi-urban areas, empowering women to secure sustainable livelihoods. It also prioritizes marginalised social groups and 115 aspirational districts, thereby decentralising employment opportunities and facilitating the development of localised textile clusters. By enhancing technical capacity, the scheme has played an important role in contributing to the sector’s competitiveness on the global stage. Through facilitating domestic skill development and value-chain integration, the scheme aligns with national initiatives such as Make In India and Atmanirbhar Bharat. Under the scheme, the top-performing states, such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, indicate that the Samarth scheme supports existing textile hubs by strengthening skill availability. This skill strengthening also avails industry-ready individuals for PM-MITRA mega-parks. Ultimately, the scheme plays a significant role in improving workforce preparedness and enhancing efficiency across the textile industry.
EMERGING ISSUES
- The scheme focuses only on certain textile segments, which may limit comprehensive skill development of the entire textile value chain. The Standing Committee recommendation of extension and revamping of the scheme reflects the willingness to restructure based on implementation feedback or industry demands.
- Expenditure patterns reveal progress based fund disbursement, which ensures accountability but limits funds until certain criteria are met which coincide at the year end. This can result in year-end fund congestion and operational constraints for implementing agencies. The Standing Committee recommended starting training batches earlier for better fund utilisation within that financial year.
- Samarth scheme’s Dashboard reveals that most of the North-Eastern States except, Assam and some Union Territories have shown lower placement numbers compared to states which are established textile hubs. Thus the scheme gives priority to 115 aspirational districts, to create textile clusters at rural and semi-urban levels too. Its framework also allows incentivisation of IA to open satellite training centres in unpenetrated areas for balanced development.
- While the current post placement feature in Samarth scheme aims at retention, its structure needs adjusting so that the expenditure translates into long-term contributions and stability within the textile sector.
WAY FORWARD
The Samarth scheme envisions a strengthened industry-aligned, demand-driven training programme. By ensuring equal focus to underserved regions, it can further enhance the scheme’s effectiveness all over the country. Aligning training modules with modern technology and technical textiles, improving enforcement and monitoring mechanisms and enhancing collaboration with industry stakeholders will enhance the effectiveness of the textile industry overall. The scheme’s contribution may lie in facilitating a shift from the informal job sector to the formal sector with long term careers, supported by the post-placement framework. As India focuses on initiatives such as Make In India and Atmanirbhar Bharat, the Samarth scheme has the potential to align domestic skill development with textile value chain integration, thereby strengthening workforce capabilities and ensuring global competitiveness.
REFERENCES
- Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. 2023. User Manual – SAMARTH (SCBTS). Government of India.
https://samarth-textiles.gov.in/uploads/User_Manual_Samarth-SCBTS.pdf - Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. 2025. About SAMARTH – Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector. Government of India.
https://samarth-textiles.gov.in/about_us - Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. 2025. Annual Report 2024–25. Government of India.
https://www.texmin.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/06/776a3c6d827ef5c6dee27037ff861f05.pdf - Press Information Bureau (PIB). 2026. Integrated Programme for Textile Sector – Budget Announcement.Government of India.
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2222927®=3&lang=1 - Press Information Bureau (PIB). 2025. Update on SAMARTH Scheme Implementation. Government of India.
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2149710®=3&lang=2 - Press Information Bureau (PIB). 2026. Budget 2026–27: Textile Sector Announcements. Government of India.
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2221486®=3&lang=1 - Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. 2025. Skill Development Schemes – SAMARTH Details. Government of India.
https://www.texmin.gov.in/offerings/schemes-and-services/details/skill-development-schemes-UzM1MTMtQWa - Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. 2025. Parliamentary Standing Committee Report on Textile Sector.Government of India.
https://www.texmin.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/06/7b07378c8d50e646f517a2dfcc57045a.pd - Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. 2025. Parliamentary Reply on SAMARTH Scheme. Government of India.
https://www.texmin.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/06/d865f6b61e141d394978e7c95ff9a83d.pdf - Press Information Bureau (PIB). 2025. Status of Skill Development in Textile Sector. Government of India.
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2151232®=3&lang=2 - Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. 2026. SAMARTH Public Dashboard Data. Government of India.
https://samarth-textiles.gov.in/public_dashboard/dashboard/data
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
R.Tejaswini is a Research Intern at IMPRI. She is pursuing a Master’s in International Studies from Stella Maris College, Chennai. Her research interests include India’s foreign policy and Public policy.
Acknowledgement
The author extends her sincere gratitude to the IMPRI team for their invaluable guidance throughout the process.
Disclaimer
All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organization.
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