Skills Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE) project is a World Bank Assisted-Government of India project with the objective of improving the relevance and efficiency of skills training provided through Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and apprenticeships. The financial agreement was signed between Government of India and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) on 19th December 2017 with a budget outlay of INR 2200 Crore (US $ 318 million), covering 500 ITIs, consisting of both Government ITIs (400 ITIs) & Private ITIs (100 ITIs) and 100 Industry Clusters (ICs). It is an outcome focused scheme marking shift in government’s implementation strategy in vocational education and training from inputs to results. It is aimed at institutional reforms and improving quality & market relevance of skill development training programs in long term vocational education training. It shall incentivize ITIs to improve overall performance including apprenticeship by involving SMEs, business association and industry clusters. The project aims to develop a robust mechanism for delivering quality skill development training by strengthening institutions such as State Directorate of training & Employment, CSTARI, NIMI, NSTIs, ITIs etc.

STRIVE is a Central Sector Scheme (CSS) covering the following 4 result areas:

• Improved performance of ITI

• Increased Capacities of State Governments to support ITIs and Apprenticeship Training

• Improved Teaching and Learning

• Improved and Broadened Apprenticeship Training