Assistance to Training Institutions (ATI) Scheme

What is the Assistance to Training Institutions (ATI) Scheme?

Assistance to Training Institutions (ATI) Scheme is a central sector scheme of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises that funds the training infrastructure behind India's MSME skilling system. The scheme does not pay money to individuals. It pays capital grants to institutions so that they can build classrooms, workshops, hostels and laboratories, and run entrepreneurship and skill development programmes.

According to the Ministry of MSME guidelines, the objective of the ATI Scheme is to strengthen training capacity for skill development and entrepreneurship, to support research and studies on MSME-related issues, and to train the staff of District Industries Centres and other government institutions that deal with the MSME sector.

Key objectives

• Create and strengthen physical training infrastructure at MSME training institutions.
• Support entrepreneurship development and skill development training programmes run by those institutions.
• Build capacity in state-level Entrepreneurship Development Institutes so training reaches beyond the national institutes.
• Train officers of District Industries Centres and allied government bodies working on MSME promotion.

Main features

• Central sector scheme, funded by the Government of India through the Ministry of MSME.
• Assistance is given as a capital grant for infrastructure, plus support for running training programmes.
• National-level institutions under the Ministry receive grants against approved project cost; state EDIs are capped at Rs 3 crore in each case.
• Assets created with the grant are locked in, they cannot be sold, leased or encumbered without written permission from the Ministry.

Who is eligible for the ATI Scheme?

These institutions are eligible:

• National-level training institutions functioning under the Ministry of MSME, the National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (NI-MSME), the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), the Coir Board, MSME Technology Centres (formerly Tool Rooms), the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) and the Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Rural Industrialisation (MGIRI).
• State-level Entrepreneurship Development Institutes (EDIs) that are owned and controlled by a State Government or Union Territory administration.

Who cannot apply:

• Individuals cannot apply. There is no personal grant, stipend or loan component under the ATI Scheme for a citizen, student or entrepreneur.
• Private training institutions and NGOs are not eligible for infrastructure support or training programme support under the revised ATI guidelines.
• Privately promoted EDIs that are not owned and controlled by a state government are not eligible for the state EDI grant.
• Institutions that have failed to submit audited accounts or utilisation certificates for an earlier grant are not eligible for a fresh release until those are cleared.

This is the single most misunderstood point about the scheme. If you are looking for a personal skilling stipend from the Ministry of MSME, the relevant route is the entrepreneurship and skill development programmes run at these institutions, not an ATI application.

What documents are required for the ATI Scheme?

How to apply for the ATI Scheme

The ATI route is institutional. An eligible training institution, not a citizen, initiates the process.

1. Confirm that the applicant institution falls in an eligible category — a national institution under the Ministry of MSME, or a state EDI owned and controlled by a State Government or UT administration.
2. Prepare a detailed project proposal setting out the infrastructure to be created or strengthened, the training programmes it will enable, the cost estimate and the implementation schedule.
3. Have the proposal recommended by the controlling State Government department where the applicant is a state-level EDI.
4. Submit the proposal to the Director/Deputy Secretary (EDI), Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Udyog Bhawan, Rafi Marg, New Delhi 110011, along with audited accounts and supporting documents.
5. Respond to the Ministry's appraisal queries; the proposal is examined against the scheme ceilings before sanction.
6. On sanction, execute the project, maintain the asset register, and submit utilisation certificates and audited annual reports each year for at least five years.

The Ministry maintains a dedicated ATI portal at ati.msme.gov.in carrying scheme guidelines, formats and reporting information.

How can an individual benefit from the ATI Scheme?

An individual benefits from the ATI Scheme indirectly. The scheme pays for the buildings, workshops and equipment where entrepreneurship awareness, skill development and management development programmes are conducted. A candidate who wants training should approach the institution itself. An MSME Technology Centre, an MSME Development and Facilitation Office, NI-MSME in Hyderabad, or the state Entrepreneurship Development Institute, and enrol in the course offered there.

Fees, stipends and course duration are set by each programme, not by the ATI Scheme. Many entrepreneurship and skill programmes conducted for SC, ST, women and persons with disabilities are run without a course fee.

How much assistance does the ATI Scheme provide?

According to the Ministry of MSME, assistance under the scheme takes two forms. National-level training institutions functioning under the Ministry receive capital grants for creating and strengthening infrastructure, assessed against approved project cost. State-level Entrepreneurship Development Institutes receive a grant capped at Rs 3 crore in each case.

Support for entrepreneurship development and skill development training programmes is released at the rates prescribed in the scheme guidelines, against programmes actually conducted and reported.

What conditions apply after assistance is sanctioned?

Two obligations follow every ATI grant and are worth reading before applying.

• The assisted institution cannot dispose of, lease out or create any charge over the assets created with ATI assistance without written permission from the Ministry of MSME.
• The assisted institution must get its accounts audited every year and submit an annual report with financial statements to the Ministry for at least five years after receiving the assistance.

Failure on either count blocks further releases and can trigger recovery of the grant.

Help and contact for the ATI Scheme

• Scheme portal: ati.msme.gov.in
• Ministry of MSME: msme.gov.in, Udyog Bhawan, Rafi Marg, New Delhi 110011
• MSME/Udyam helpline: 1800-180-6763
• Proposal address: Director/Deputy Secretary (EDI), Ministry of MSME

No fee is payable to any agent for filing an ATI proposal. Proposals are submitted directly by the institution to the Ministry.

How to check your application status

The ATI Scheme has no individual applicant-facing status portal, because the applicant is always an institution, not a person. If you are an authorised officer of an eligible institution tracking a submitted proposal, use these routes:

1. Track through the nodal officer, not a portal login. Once a proposal is submitted to the Director/Deputy Secretary (EDI), Ministry of MSME, the institution's own nodal officer (usually the EDI director or the institution head who signed the proposal) should be the point of contact for status updates, since the Ministry does not run a public tracking number system for ATI proposals.
2. Call the Ministry's helpline for a status check. Use the MSME/Udyam helpline, 1800-180-6763, and quote the proposal reference number, the date of submission, and the name of the institution when asking for an update.
3. Write to the Ministry directly. Send a follow-up letter or email referencing the original proposal to the Director/Deputy Secretary (EDI), Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Udyog Bhawan, Rafi Marg, New Delhi 110011, asking for the appraisal status.
4. Check the ATI portal for scheme-level updates. ati.msme.gov.in does not offer a per-proposal tracker, but it carries circulars, revised guidelines, and reporting formats. A change in guidelines can explain a delay in appraisal.
5. After sanction, status tracking shifts to compliance reporting. Once a grant is sanctioned, the "status" that matters is whether the institution's utilisation certificates and audited annual reports have been received and accepted by the Ministry. An institution should confirm receipt of each year's report with the Ministry rather than assume silence means acceptance.
6. A candidate attending a course at an assisted institution should never contact the Ministry for status. Course admission, attendance, and certificate status are handled by the training institution itself (NI-MSME, an MSME Technology Centre, or the state EDI), not by the ATI Scheme office.

Common reasons for rejection

Because the applicant is always an institution, rejections happen at the proposal stage or the release stage, not through a personal application form. The real reasons proposals are turned down or stalled are specific to institutional grants:

• The applicant institution does not fall in an eligible category. A private training institute, an NGO, or a privately promoted EDI that is not owned and controlled by a State Government or UT administration is rejected outright under the revised guidelines. The fix: confirm eligibility before drafting a proposal; only national institutions functioning under the Ministry of MSME and state-government-owned EDIs qualify.
• Ownership and control are not documented. A state EDI that cannot produce clear proof that it is owned and controlled by the State Government or UT administration has its claim to the Rs 3 crore ceiling rejected or downgraded. The fix: attach the government order or statute establishing the EDI and showing government control, not just a registration certificate.
• The project proposal lacks cost justification. A proposal that gives a lump-sum figure without a itemised cost estimate, timelines, or a clear description of the infrastructure to be created is sent back for revision rather than appraised. The fix: break the proposal into components (land, construction, equipment) with individual cost estimates and a realistic implementation schedule.
  
• Pending compliance from an earlier grant blocks a fresh proposal. An institution that has not submitted audited accounts or utilisation certificates for a previous ATI release is not eligible for a new sanction until those are cleared. The fix: close out all pending annual reports and utilisation certificates for prior grants before submitting a new proposal.
• The proposal is not routed through the state government where required. A state EDI's proposal that skips recommendation by the controlling state department is treated as incomplete. The fix: obtain the state government's forwarding recommendation before sending the proposal to the Ministry.
• Assets from a prior grant were sold, leased, or encumbered without permission. This is a compliance breach, not a paperwork gap, and it can block further releases entirely and trigger recovery. The fix: never dispose of or create a charge over ATI-funded assets without prior written permission from the Ministry of MSME.
• The proposal is confused with an individual benefit application. Proposals or queries submitted by individual entrepreneurs or students seeking a personal grant or stipend are not proposals the ATI Scheme can act on at all, since the scheme has no individual component. The fix: individuals should approach the training institution directly for course admission, not the Ministry for an ATI grant.