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The government has planned a hub-and-spoke model for infrastructure development of industrial training institutes (ITIs) in the State, Minister for General Education and Labour V. Sivankutty has said.

At a press conference here on Tuesday, the Minister said four nodal ITIs in the State at Chakka in Thiruvananthapuram, Kalamassery in Ernakulam, Kozhikode, and Malampuzha in Palakkad would be developed as hub ITIs.

There would be 16 spoke ITIs – four in each hub. The ₹1,444-crore project was submitted to Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Jayant Chaudhary in Hyderabad recently, the Minister said.

An amount of ₹200 crore each had been earmarked for the hub ITIs and ₹40 crore for the spoke ITIs. As much as 50% of the project cost would be Union government share, 33.3% State government share, and 16.67% from the CSR fund of corporates. The project would be completed in five years, the Minister said.

The hub ITIs would benefit not only ITI students but also students doing courses in the technological sector and trainers too, he said.

The Union Minister had promised all support for the Institute for Metro and Rail Technology to come up at Kalamassery in Kochi at an estimated cost of ₹290 crore. He had also promised that the Indian Institute of Foreign Languages would be set up at Angamaly in Ernakulam and Karamana in Thiruvananthapuram.

The Union Minister had promised that he would visit the State in July, Mr. Sivankutty said.

General Education and Labour Secretary K. Vasuki said the government wanted the skill development sector to support the investment climate in the State. The State’s skill development plan being prepared by the Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE) would include new gen courses. KASE would start standardisation and accreditation of private agencies giving skill training.