New Delhi: The third pilot round of the Prime Minister Internship Scheme (PMIS) is seeing a stronger response, with the number of candidates who have joined internships already surpassing the combined figure from the first two rounds, a senior government official told ThePrint.
More than 16,000 candidates are expected to have joined internships under the third pilot round, which began in April and will run until December 2026. This is higher than the candidates who joined the first two rounds — 8,760 in the first round and 7,300 in the second.
“The scheme is witnessing a positive response in the third pilot round, with the number joining already exceeding the figures recorded in the first two rounds,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
In July, Union Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Harsh Malhotra informed Parliament in a written reply that more than 10,000 candidates had joined the scheme in the third pilot round.
The government has set a target of providing 1.1 lakh internship opportunities to candidates under the third pilot round by December 2026.
The official said the initial response suggests that the government could get closer to this target.
The improvement is also visible in the retention of interns. The first pilot round witnessed a high dropout rate, with more than half of the candidates leaving their internships midway. In comparison, preliminary data from the third round shows that the attrition rate has fallen to less than 10 percent.
“The initial data suggests that the dropout rate in the third pilot round has come down to less than 10 percent,” the official said.
Third round likely to be last pilot
The government now expects the third round to be the final pilot phase before the full-fledged implementation of the scheme, which is likely to begin next year.
“There will be no more pilot rounds after the third round,” the official said.
Launched in October 2024, the PMIS aims to improve the employability of young people by providing them with hands-on experience in companies and organisations. The scheme seeks to provide one crore internship opportunities to youth over five years, giving them workplace experience and exposure to different industries.
The initial pilot rounds, however, exposed challenges related to low joining rates and high attrition. In the first two pilot rounds, 52,600 candidates accepted internship offers but only 16,060 eventually joined.
The changes introduced for the third round aim to address some of these concerns by making the scheme more attractive to candidates and expanding the range of organisations offering internships.
Also read: PM Internship Scheme receives 10,000-plus entries in third pilot round, surpasses previous records
Changes to scheme improve response
According to the official, the better response in the third pilot round is partly due to changes made to the scheme before its launch of this round in April 2026.
Under the revised framework, the monthly stipend increased from Rs 5,000 to Rs 9,000, the eligible age group widened from 21-24 years to 18-25 years, and the internship duration reduced from 12 months to six to nine months.
The government also expanded the pool of participating organisations to include statutory bodies such as the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), as well as micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), global capability centres (GCCs) and professional bodies such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).
The current joining figures do not include candidates through MSMEs and professional bodies, as discussions with these organisations are still underway.
However, their participation is expected to push up the numbers further, the official said.
The official also attributed the improved response to the scheme to outreach efforts including through MY Bharat (Mera Yuva Bharat), which promotes youth engagement and development.
According to a July parliamentary reply by the government, nearly 98,000 youth had been mobilised through the PMIS-MY Bharat collaboration, with 8,428 applying for internships on the PMIS portal.
“The response is not only because of the changes to the scheme. The participating companies and the outreach programmes have also played an important role,” the official said.
With participation improving and attrition falling, the government is now preparing to move beyond the pilot phase. The final assessment will depend on how many candidates complete their internships by December, when the third round concludes.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)