The Prime Minister Internship Scheme (PMIS) has seen significant growth in its third pilot round, with 10,195 candidates physically joining the program so far. This surpasses the number of joinings recorded in both the first and second pilot rounds, according to data shared by Union Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Harsh Malhotra in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
The third pilot round, which began in April and will continue till December, has already recorded more internship joinings than the first (8,760) and second (7,300) pilot rounds. As of 15 July 2026, 340 companies have offered 1.22 lakh internship opportunities across 31 sectors in the third pilot round. State-wise data showed Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of candidates that joined internships with 2,038, followed by Maharashtra with 771 and Assam with 699.
The improvement comes after the government overhauled the scheme in March ahead of the launch of the third pilot round. The monthly stipend was increased from Rs 5,000 to Rs 9,000, the eligible age group was expanded from 21-24 years to 18-25 years, and the internship duration was reduced from 12 months to 6-9 months. The government also widened the eligibility criteria to include final-year undergraduate and postgraduate students.
The scheme has also been expanded beyond India’s largest companies to include micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), global capability centres (GCCs), and professional bodies such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). The changes come after the scheme generated a poor response since its launch in October 2024, with low participation and high attrition.
To promote the scheme, Malhotra said that PM Internship Scheme is being implemented as a national level scheme and 35 States/UTs have appointed Nodal Officers for PMIS. Awareness campaigns are being carried out at ITI, Diploma, degree, and graduate colleges across the country, including tier 2 and tier 3 cities, rural and semi-urban districts.
The government has also collaborated with MY Bharat to increase youth participation in internship opportunities posted under PMIS. Nearly 98,000 youth have been mobilised through the collaboration of PMIS and MY Bharat, out of which 8,428 applied for internships on the PMIS portal as of 16 July 2026. PMIS and MY Bharat have organised three outreach and internship camps in Chennai, Pune and Dantewada, enabling direct interaction between candidates and companies.
