Business: After the launch of the PM Internship Scheme, over 1.55 lakh candidates have applied for the scheme within 24 hours, sources said on Sunday. On October 12, the dedicated portal for the scheme went live for registration at 5 pm. The target for the scheme's pilot project was to have 1.25 lakh candidates, which crossed in just 24 hours.

The number of candidates registered on the portal stood at 1,55,109 on Sunday. Students under the age group of 21-24 years are eligible to apply for the scheme, which is being implemented by the corporate affairs ministry through the portal www.pminternship.mca.gov.in'. The internships under the scheme will begin on December 2. The scheme provisions a monthly financial assistance of Rs 5,000 for 12 months and a one-time grant of Rs 6,000 for an intern.

Scheme was announced in Budget 2024

On Saturday, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs said that in the past week, the portal added more than 80,000 opportunities across 24 sectors, including oil, gas and energy, travel and hospitality and automotive. "The portal ensures efficient access to internships across sectors with Aadhaar-based registration and tools like bio-data generation," the ministry had said.

The initial cost of the scheme's pilot project is estimated at Rs 800 crore. Notably, the scheme was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget 2024. It aims to provide an opportunity to college students to do an internship in the top 500 companies in India for 12 months.

90,000 opportunities in 737 districts of all states

More than 90,000 internship opportunities are being offered in 737 districts of all the states of the country for 24 sectors including agriculture, automobile, pharma, petroleum, energy, travel and hospitality, food, banking and financial services. 45 per cent of these opportunities have been provided to 5 states - Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.