On Independence Day, India launched ‘Yuva AI Setu’, a free initiative targeting one crore young people across underserved areas to acquire certified skills in AI, data science, and deep technology, accelerating the country’s digital transformation and industry readiness.
On Independence Day, the Prime Minister set out a broader push to turn India’s youth into a trained digital workforce, unveiling “Yuva AI Setu”, a free skilling initiative that aims to reach 1 crore young people with certified training in artificial intelligence, data science and deep technology within a year. The plan builds on a series of government-backed AI literacy efforts this year, including the “YUVA AI for All” course launched in January and later outreach through the Kaushal Rath initiative, both designed to make foundational AI education more widely available.
According to the government’s announcement, the programme is meant to narrow the technology skills gap in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, rural colleges and other underserved areas. It is also framed as a way to use India’s demographic advantage, with more than 65% of the population below the age of 35, by moving young people from passive users of technology to active builders of AI-driven products and services.
The initiative is being positioned alongside the National Education Policy 2020 and the National Credit Framework, with modular and experiential learning to be embedded into undergraduate courses. Delivery will rely on open digital platforms, including SWAYAM and the Skill India Digital Hub, while the government says special outreach will target women students, rural youth and members of marginalised communities to reduce the risk of a new digital divide in emerging AI jobs.
Industry participation is expected to be a central feature. Salesforce said in November 2025 that it was working with SmartBridge on the “Yuva AI Bharat: GenAI Skill Catalyst” programme, aiming to train 100,000 learners by the end of 2026 using its Trailhead platform. That effort, together with public programmes such as “YUVA AI for All”, shows how the government is trying to blend public funding, academic networks and private-sector tools to scale AI education quickly.
The wider Independence Day address placed the skilling push within a larger economic and strategic blueprint that the Prime Minister called “Saptadhara”, or seven streams of strength. That framework spans manufacturing, agriculture, technology, infrastructure, defence, green and blue economy goals, and soft power, while the same speech also highlighted a modernised civil defence network, hypersonic capabilities and counter-drone systems as part of a more self-reliant security posture.
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