Skill Development Fee Reimbursement Scheme (Goa Start-up Policy 2017)

What is the Goa Skill Development Fee Reimbursement Scheme?

Skill Development Fee Reimbursement Scheme was a student-facing incentive of the Goa Start-up Policy 2017, administered by the Startup Promotion Cell. The body now reconstituted as the Startup and IT Promotion Cell (SITPC) within the Department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications.

The scheme is unusual in the Goa startup stack because it paid an individual rather than a company. Almost every other incentive under the policy reimburses a certified startup or an institution. This one put money directly into the hands of a student who had paid for technical skills training and finished it.

According to the scheme notification hosted on goaonline.gov.in, the Cell reimbursed 50% of the fees up to Rs 50,000 to students who had successfully completed an SPC-approved technical skill training programme in any of the domains mentioned in the Goa Start-up Policy 2017 and outlined in Annexure 2 to the scheme document, attended at a Goan educational institute.

Current status, read this first

Skill Development Fee Reimbursement Scheme is not listed among the nine incentive schemes currently shown as live on startup.goa.gov.in, and it is not among the twelve schemes named in the Goa Startup Policy 2025. The scheme that shares a similar name on the live list, the Skill Development Promotion Scheme: is a different thing entirely: it pays educational institutes internet, power, capital and salary subsidies, not students their fees back.

Anyone reading about this scheme should confirm its status with the Startup and IT Promotion Cell before enrolling in a course on the assumption that half the fee will come back. What follows records the scheme accurately as notified.

What the scheme provided

• 50% of the fees, up to Rs 50,000, reimbursed to the student on successful completion of an approved technical skill training programme.
• Available to up to 1,000 students per year, a cap the scheme said could be reviewed and revised based on need in future.
• A student could avail the benefit for any two courses in a year.
• Not an entitlement. The scheme states that under no circumstance shall the benefits be considered an entitlement, and the Cell reserved the sole right to accept or reject applications.

Worked through: a student paying Rs 60,000 for an approved programme would receive Rs 30,000, being half the fee and below the ceiling. A student paying Rs 1.4 lakh would receive the Rs 50,000 ceiling, not Rs 70,000.

Who was eligible for the Skill Development Fee Reimbursement Scheme?

A student could claim if:

• They fell within the scheme's definition of a student, satisfying at least one of:

1. Born in the State of Goa and studying in Goa or outside Goa; or
2. Having domicile in the State for 10 years or more and studying in Goa or outside Goa; or
3. Not a State domicile but studying at an educational institute in the State.

• They were currently pursuing graduation, or were within two years of receiving their graduate degree within the original stipulated period of study.
• The educational institute was incorporated in Goa or had a registered place of business in Goa.
• The technical skill training programme was approved by the Cell and fell under one of the technical domains mentioned in the Goa Start-up Policy 2017.
• The expenditure was incurred after notification of the policy, within its validity, and was paid for digitally.
• They had successfully completed the course and held the completion certificate.

A student could not apply if:

• They had not completed the course. Enrolment alone was insufficient; the application had to carry the certificate of course completion.
• The course was not on the Cell's approved list, or fell outside the technical domains named in the policy. This was the most frequent disqualifier, because students often enrolled first and checked approval later.
• The institute was not incorporated in Goa and had no registered place of business in Goa, even if the student was Goan.
• They were more than two years past graduation, or had taken longer than the original stipulated period to complete the degree.
• They had no connection to Goa: neither born in Goa, nor a 10-year domicile holder, nor studying at a Goa institute.
• Fees were paid in cash and the Cell declined to admit the expenditure.
• The claim was filed more than six months after the expenditure.
• They had already claimed for two courses that year, or the 1,000-student annual cap was exhausted.

What documents were required?

How to apply for the Skill Development Fee Reimbursement Scheme

The procedure below is as set out in the scheme notification. Because the scheme is not among the live incentives, begin at step 1.

1. Confirm the scheme's current status. Contact the Startup and IT Promotion Cell on 1800-233-5060 or at spc-dit.goa@gov.in and ask whether fee reimbursement for students is open, and under which policy.
2. Check that the course is approved before enrolling. The programme must be SPC-approved, in a technical domain listed in the policy, and run by an institute incorporated or registered in Goa. Ask the institute for written confirmation of approval — this is the step that saves the claim.
3. Pay the fees digitally and keep the receipt and the bank record.
4. Complete the course and obtain the certificate of course completion.
5. Submit the application form to the Cell along with the completion certificate and the other required documents, within six months of incurring the expenditure. The scheme text allows the form and documents to be e-mailed or submitted on the web portal.
6. Await the decision. Approval or rejection is notified within 45 days of a complete application, and the approved amount is disbursed within 60 days of approval, into the student's bank account.

How to apply offline

1. Visit the Startup and IT Promotion Cell at IT HUB, 2nd Floor, Altinho, Panaji, Goa 403001.
2. Submit the printed application form with the completion certificate, fee receipts, bank statement, student status proof and bank details.
3. Collect the acknowledgement carrying the application reference.

What a Goa student can look at instead

The Goa Startup Policy 2025 replaced the student fee-reimbursement idea with two differently shaped supports:

• Campus Innovation Scheme; grants to students engaged in entrepreneurial and research projects, reimbursing actual expenses incurred during project development up to Rs 50,000 per application. The institute must submit quarterly progress reports to the Cell.
• Skill Enhancement Scheme, a one-time reimbursement of 50% of the costs, up to Rs 1,00,000, for skill development courses in AI and emerging technologies from institutes approved by the Cell. Note that this scheme is written for startups, not for individual students.

The distinction matters. Campus Innovation is the route for a student; Skill Enhancement is the route for a company sending its people on a course.

Separately, under the Goa IT Policy 2018, Goan IT professionals can avail reimbursement of up to 50% of the expenditure incurred for obtaining certifications that improve their employability, where the certification is by the vendor or an authorised training partner of the vendor and appears on the list maintained by the Department of Information Technology.

Key dates and policy history

• 2017; Skill Development Fee Reimbursement Scheme notified under the Goa Start-up Policy 2017: 50% of fees up to Rs 50,000, 1,000 students a year, two courses per student per year.
• 2021, Goa IT Start-up Policy 2021 notified. Its nine published incentives include the Skill Development Promotion Scheme for institutes, but not the student fee reimbursement.
• 2025; Goa Startup Policy 2025 notified, running three years from gazette notification. Its twelve schemes include Campus Innovation and Skill Enhancement, but not Skill Development Fee Reimbursement.

Help and grievance redressal

• Startup and IT Promotion Cell helpline: 1800-233-5060
• E-mail: spc-dit.goa@gov.in
• Office: IT HUB, 2nd Floor, Altinho, Panaji, Goa 403001
• Live incentives list: startup.goa.gov.in/StartupIncentives
• Scheme notification: goaonline.gov.in/Downloads/Forms/IFT64.pdf

A student considering a paid technical course on the strength of an expected reimbursement should get the Cell's position in writing first. The course fee is real money paid up front; the reimbursement, on the current published position, is not open.

How to check your application status

Because the scheme is not among the incentives currently listed as live on startup.goa.gov.in, there is no online status-tracking dashboard for it today. A student who filed a claim while the scheme was still open, or who wants to know whether a pending claim will still be honoured, has two practical routes:

1. Call the Startup and IT Promotion Cell helpline on 1800-233-5060 and quote the application reference number given at the time of submission (either the acknowledgement issued at the Panaji office for an offline filing, or the reference generated when the form was e-mailed or uploaded to the portal).
2. Write to the Cell's e-mail address, spc-dit.goa@gov.in, stating the applicant's name, the course completed, the date the application was filed, and the reference number if one was issued. Keep the fee receipt and completion certificate on hand in case the Cell asks for them again.

If no acknowledgement or reference number was ever issued for a claim, that is itself worth raising with the Cell: the scheme required a decision within 45 days of a complete application, so an application that went in but generated no response should be followed up rather than assumed lost. Since the scheme has since dropped off the list of live incentives, a follow-up call is also the only reliable way to find out whether a claim filed in an earlier year is still being processed, has lapsed, or has been folded into a different scheme.

There is no SMS-based or portal-login status check for this scheme, unlike some newer Goa incentives; the helpline and e-mail are the only channels the notification names.

Common reasons for rejection

• Course not on the Cell's approved list. A student enrolling first and checking approval afterward is the single most common way this claim failed. The fix is to get written confirmation from the institute, before paying, that the specific course is SPC-approved and falls within a technical domain named in the Goa Start-up Policy 2017.
• Institute not incorporated or registered in Goa. Even a Goa-born, Goa-domiciled student's claim was rejected if the training institute itself had no Goa incorporation or registered place of business there. Confirm the institute's registration address before enrolling, not after.
• Application filed after the six-month window. The scheme allowed six months from the date the expenditure was incurred, not from the date the course started or the certificate was issued. Filing promptly after receiving the completion certificate, rather than waiting to accumulate documents, avoids this.
• Payment made in cash. The scheme required digital payment, and cash was admitted only at the Cell's discretion. Paying institute fees by card, UPI, or bank transfer, and retaining the transaction record, is what the claim depended on.
• Missing or incomplete completion certificate. An application filed on the strength of enrolment or attendance, without the institute's formal certificate of course completion, was incomplete by the scheme's own terms and did not qualify for the 45-day decision clock to start.
• Bank details that do not match the applicant. Since reimbursement was paid directly to the student, an account not held in the applicant's own name, or details that did not match the identity documents submitted, caused processing delays or rejection.
• Annual cap or two-course limit already reached. The scheme capped support at 1,000 students a year and two courses per student per year. A claim submitted after either limit was exhausted for that year was turned down regardless of how well-documented it was; there is no carry-forward to the next year mentioned in the notification.
• Scheme no longer accepting applications. Since the fee reimbursement is not listed among the incentives currently live on startup.goa.gov.in, an application submitted now, without first confirming with the Cell that the scheme is open, risks being rejected purely on the basis that the scheme itself is inactive. This is a reason worth checking before spending time assembling documents.