Skill Development Promotion Scheme

What is the Skill Development Promotion Scheme?

Skill Development Promotion Scheme is a supply-side incentive of the Startup and IT Promotion Cell (SITPC) in the Department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications, Government of Goa. It sits within the Skill Development and Access to Talent pillar of Goa's start-up policy and is funded from the Skill Development Fund established under that policy.

The scheme does not pay students. It pays the training providers. Through the Skill Development Promotion Scheme, retail educational institutes that impart programming and technical skills are encouraged to establish learning centres in Goa. Institutes listed by the start-up promotion cell, and providing their courses at pre-fixed rates, receive a bundle of operating and capital subsidies that make it viable to run a centre in a small state where student volumes are lower than in Bengaluru or Pune.

The logic is simple. Goa's start-up and IT policies both identify a mismatch between employer expectations and the skill sets available locally. If the state wants software firms to hire Goans, the training capacity has to exist inside Goa first. This scheme buys that capacity.

Who is eligible for the Skill Development Promotion Scheme?

An institute can apply if:

• The institute is a retail educational institute imparting programming and technical skills.
• The institute is listed by the Startup and IT Promotion Cell and holds a valid Startup Cell Registration Number.
• The institute has at least one established learning centre in Goa.
• The institute, or the course offered, is recognised by an authorised government body such as AICTE, UGC or NBA, as applicable.
• The institute provides its courses at pre-fixed rates agreed with the cell.
• The courses fall in the technical areas or sectors outlined in Annexure 2 of the scheme.
• The bank accounts of the employees whose salaries are claimed, and of the directors of the institute, are linked to Aadhaar.
• The expenditure was incurred from one year before the notification of the operative start-up policy, falls within its validity, and was paid digitally. Where digital payment was not possible, the SITPC may still admit the expenditure under its guidelines.

An applicant is not eligible if:

• The applicant is a student, trainee or job-seeker. Individuals cannot apply under this scheme at all; the beneficiary is the institute.
• The institute is not listed by the SITPC or has no Startup Cell Registration Number.
• The institute has no learning centre physically established in Goa.
• The institute has no recognition from an authorised government body.
• The courses offered fall outside the technical areas listed in Annexure 2.
• The annual quota of 10 institutes is already filled for that year.

Preference is given to institutes with tie-ups with OEMs; original equipment manufacturers, which is why an OEM authorisation letter appears in the document list even though it is not compulsory.

How much does the scheme pay?

The scheme is a bundle of four subsidies rather than a single grant:

Over and above the individual caps, the scheme sets an overall ceiling: the maximum benefits aggregating all the benefits in this scheme should not exceed Rs 10 lakh per year. An institute that separately maximised the internet, power, capital and salary components would compute Rs 14 lakh, but would receive Rs 10 lakh, because the aggregate cap binds.

For the capital component, the scheme defines capital procurement as money spent on capital goods such as computer hardware, networking devices and ICT for the institute. A lab of workstations, switches and projectors qualifies; general office furniture does not obviously fall within that definition.

Two further limits apply. The benefits can only be availed by up to 10 institutes per year, and eligibility and disbursement are reviewed at the end of each year based on the performance of the institute. A centre that enrols nobody in year one should not assume year two will be funded.

How to apply for the Skill Development Promotion Scheme

1. Get listed by the Startup and IT Promotion Cell. Registration runs through the Startup Goa portal at startup.goa.gov.in, which routes to the registration login on goaonline.gov.in. The cell issues a Startup Cell Registration Number, without which no incentive application can be filed.
2. Establish or confirm a learning centre in Goa and secure recognition from an authorised government body; AICTE, UGC, NBA or the applicable regulator for the courses being offered.
3. Agree the pre-fixed course rates with the cell, since the benefit is available only to listed institutes providing courses at those rates.
4. Link bank accounts to Aadhaar for the relevant employees and for the directors of the institute, and pay all eligible expenditure digitally so it is admissible without discretion.
5. Assemble the documents: Aadhaar cards of the relevant employees, their contracts of employment, their salary slips, the bank certification or account statement showing salary debits, copies of original bills from service providers, OEMs or authorised vendors for the internet, power and capital claims, and, if available, the OEM authorisation letter.
6. File the application online using the "Apply Now" link against the Skill Development Promotion Scheme on the Startup Incentives page at startup.goa.gov.in. The application and documents may also be emailed to the cell.
7. Prepare for the annual review. Because eligibility and disbursement are reviewed at the end of each year on performance, keep enrolment, completion and placement records from day one rather than reconstructing them at review time.

What documents does the cell ask for?

Why applications under this scheme get rejected

• No Startup Cell Registration Number. Listing by the SITPC is the gateway condition.
• No learning centre in Goa. An institute headquartered elsewhere with only an online offering does not meet the "at least one established learning centre in Goa" requirement.
• No recognition from AICTE, UGC, NBA or an equivalent government body.
• Courses outside Annexure 2. A centre teaching only non-technical subjects falls outside the scheme.
• Cash payments with no digital trail, which the cell is not obliged to admit.
• Employee or director bank accounts not linked to Aadhaar.
• Salary claimed without proof of debit. A salary slip alone is not enough; the bank certification or statement showing the debit is a separate document.
• The 10-institute annual quota is full.
• Weak performance at the annual review, which can end the benefit after year one even for an institute that was correctly admitted.

How this scheme relates to Goa's other skilling support

Goa runs several distinct routes into technical skilling, and they are easy to confuse:

• Skill Enhancement Scheme under the Goa Startup Policy 2025 gives start-ups a one-time reimbursement of 50% of costs, up to Rs 1,00,000, for skill development courses in AI and emerging technologies from institutes approved by the SITPC. That pays the start-up, not the institute.
• Certification Program for Goan IT Professionals under the IT Policy 2018 reimburses an individual of Goan origin up to 50% of what they spend obtaining an approved vendor certification. That pays the individual.
• Skill Development Promotion Scheme, this scheme, pays the institute that builds the learning centre.

Read together, the three cover the training provider, the employer and the learner respectively. An institute in Goa can therefore be funded under this scheme while its students are separately funded under the Certification Program, without either claim overlapping the other.

Where to get help

• Startup and IT Promotion Cell helpline: 1800-233-5060
• Email: spc-dit.goa@gov.in
• Office: IT HUB, 2nd Floor, Altinho, Panaji, Goa 403001, Monday to Friday, 10:00 am to 5:30 pm
• Scheme page with the Apply Now link: startup.goa.gov.in/StartupIncentives
• Policy documents: Goa Startup Policy 2025 and the amended Start-up Policy 2021, both published on startup.goa.gov.in and dit.goa.gov.in

There is no fee to apply, and the scheme is explicit that the benefit is never an entitlement. The SITPC alone decides which 10 institutes are admitted in a year.

How to check your application status

The Skill Development Promotion Scheme does not run a public applicant dashboard where an institute can log in and see a status like "under review" or "approved." Because the scheme sits inside the Startup and IT Promotion Cell's incentive process rather than a large-volume DBT scheme, status tracking is manual and happens through the cell itself.

1. Keep your acknowledgement details. When the application is filed online through the "Apply Now" link on the Startup Incentives page, or emailed to the cell, note the date of submission and, if the portal issues one, the application or reference number. This is what the cell will ask for first.
2. Call the SITPC helpline. Ring 1800-233-5060 during office hours and quote the institute's Startup Cell Registration Number along with the date the incentive application was filed. The registration number is the anchor the cell uses to locate a file, since institutes rather than individuals are the applicants here.
3. Email spc-dit.goa@gov.in for a written update. An email query naturally creates a paper trail, which is useful given that eligibility and disbursement are reassessed every year. Reference the scheme by name (Skill Development Promotion Scheme) since the cell administers several distinct incentives under the start-up and IT policies.
4. Visit the office if the file has been pending a long time. The SITPC's office at IT HUB, 2nd Floor, Altinho, Panaji, Goa 403001 is open Monday to Friday, 10:00 am to 5:30 pm. Because only 10 institutes are admitted in a year, an institute that applied late in the cycle should ask specifically whether the year's quota has already been filled rather than assuming a delay means rejection.
5. Expect the answer to distinguish two different things: admission and disbursement. An institute can be admitted as one of the 10 for the year but still be waiting on disbursement of a specific component (internet, power, capital or salary) pending document verification. When following up, ask which of the two stages the file is at, since "not yet approved" and "approved but payment pending verification" call for different next steps from the applicant.
6. After admission, track the annual review separately. Because continued disbursement in year two depends on the institute's performance in year one, an admitted institute should treat the annual review itself as a second checkpoint to follow up on, not assume that year one's approval carries automatically into year two.